Prophecy Girl
by Esprit de L'eau
Summary: A jewel that possess strange powers that can seemingly grant wishes the user desires. 18 year old Hikari is holding on to it unknowingly. And someone is out to take the jewel through any means necessary. AU Ikarishipping, slight ADVShip, ShootsdownShippin
1. Crystal to the Grave

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and certainly NOT the shipping.

I FINALLY CAME UP WITH A SUITABLE TITLE FOR MY FIC!! Shinji may seem somewhat OOC. Flames appreciated if written civilly.

A/N: Here I will use solely Japanese names. In any case those of you who follow the dub:

Paul – Shinji  
Dawn – Hikari  
Ash – Satoshi  
May – Haruka  
Brock – Takeshi  
Zoey – Nozomi  
Kenny – Kengo  
Johanna, Dawn's mother – Ayako

And everybody knows our cold-hearted trainer's brother who is 6 years older than him, the warm-hearted breeder of Tobari City Reiji.

Ok, let's get on with the show

* * *

**Chapter 1: Crystal to the Grave**

The freezing mountain air blew with a loud howl but a certain seventeen year old boy with violet hair was browsing through the pictures in his cell phone in the comfort of the tent he and his brother shared. Most of the pictures contained him and her, the blue haired energetic girl that he had known since the outbreak of the highly infectious disease that infected all of her friends except her. All of the images were sent to his phone from her anyway.

"Hey… Shinji…" a muffled voice came from beside him. Reiji sat up, half awake. "Aren't you going to sleep at all? Or are you missing Hikari-kun too much?" That earned him an icy glare from the younger brother.

"Fine, you win," Shinji surrendered. He set his phone to wake him up early tomorrow morning and quickly fell into slumber.

* * *

_The next morning…_

"Reiji! Be careful!" shouted the head of the archaeology excavation site head as Reiji descended into the ruins with a flashlight. Reiji turned back, the sunlight striking him in the face. "I KNOW, oji-san! Besides, Shinji is already down there!"

Down in the underground maze, Shinji had found some ancient writing on the wall. It looked like the Unown language that Hikari had once managed to decipher. He made his way back up to where his older brother was.

"Aniki! Oji-san! I found something. It looks like the Unown language back in the ruin of Zui Town!" Shinji said loudly. In no time at all, almost the entire archaeology team were shining their torches at the wall.

"It IS the Unown language Shinji. Someone copy them down. You'll have to trouble Berlitz to decode again," said the head of the team. Reiji turned to Shinji who was trying to decode the writing himself.

"So what can you read?" asked Reiji. Shinji's brow furrowed deeper.

"I'm not too sure. Hikari would be more apt at this. It says, 'A crystal' then something I can't read clearly, 'changes' something else, 'weather phenome- something', 'when three beings become one', I can't read the rest," Shinji said uncertainly. Reiji looked at the wall. The Unown language bore striking resemblance to the English alphabet, except more decorative. Hikari was one of the best in that language, which was probably why she deciphered it with almost no trouble. He noticed something else, a block of Unown characters at the bottom where it was almost concealed.

"Shinji, look down there. It's another phrase," Reiji told Shinji. Shinji shone his torch to where Reiji pointed. It was probably the only phrase he could read with no problem.

" 'A girl named after the day's first light will be the final'," Shinji nearly whispered in confusion. Nothing made sense here. Now he _really_ wished that he had taken up Hikari's offer to recognize Unown characters. He suddenly thought of something, which is probably why it was so confusing.

"Oji-san," Shinji called his uncle, aka the head of the archaeology team, "What if, this was a prophecy? Like the Tanoby Ruins in Seven Island in the Nanashima?" This had the latter's attention.

"Maybe, but we will know after Berlitz decodes it. But before that, just watch for more artifacts. And tell Reiji to watch out more. He nearly triggered a trap," replied the older archaeologist.

* * *

_The acrid smell of burning wood stung her nostrils as she raced through the castle to find that particular room. The castle was under siege by a__ neighbouring__ state, but the purpose was clear. It was the recently discovered crystal rock they wanted. She raced to get the crystal to safe keep before the army got hold of them. It possessed certain qualities that they were never able to figure out, supernatural properties that made it glow silver in the dark. It was kept under the watchful eye of her son, although Hien is now buying time for her to get the crystal and escape._

_She kept running through the twisting corridors and numerous rooms that looked exactly like each other. An arrow would occasionally strike the wall but more than once, the arrows nearly caused her to drop dead on the floor. After what seemed like hours, she finally reached the room. The silver lock was burning hot from the fires that blazed through the castle but she paid no heed to the heat and jammed the key into the lock and twisted it open. The crystal was glowing serenely, so calmly, as if it were oblivious to what it had caused. She quickly scooped up the crystal and placed it inside her kimono and ran back out. She paused for a while to check out the situation. Hien was apparently not able to conquer the sheer size of the army and had vanished. She raced through the castle once more to the secret garden where she and her husband often sought sanctuary. What she did not expect to happen, was that a stray arrow had been shot in her direction and it stabbed her just below her right shoulder blade. She resisted the urge to scream, for it would give away her location. Instead she got up and struggled to reach the forest just beyond the castle. Her blue hair that cascaded gracefully past her shoulders before were now slightly black due to soot and in disarray._

_Finally she reached the safe zone where a small number of the servants were waiting._

"_Goodness Your Majesty, what happened?" her personal maid asked. She was so weak from the blood loss that she collapsed in front of them. They were shocked that she would collapse but saw the serious wound that the arrow inflicted._

"_Where's Hien?" she asked, struggling to breathe._

"_Hien-sama is currently in the safe refuge the Emperor has set in such cases," replied one of the servants. She struggled to sit up._

"_I want all of you to listen closely to what I have to say," she commanded. All the servants suddenly looked attentive. Being the Queen sure had its advantages. "I do not think I have long to survive. The arrow's wound is too deep. When I leave, I want you to burn my body. That way, the sacred crystal will not fall into enemy's hands. I will bring it with me to my next life. Regarding Hien, tell him to temporarily stay with my parents in the outskirts of Shinou region. He will be safe there. As for His Majesty, please bury him in the royal cemetery." With that last sentence still the air, her heartbeat stopped._

Hikari woke up with a startled jolt. That dream had seemed so real. The fire, the pain, the castle, it felt like she had been there once. And the crystal, what was it all about? She glanced at the clock. It was 3.15 in the morning. Her table lamp glowed dull orange and a textbook with some pieces of paper littered the desk. She had briefly forgotten that she had a test on Shinou history tomorrow. She sighed and went back into a restless sleep.

* * *

Ha! 1st chapter done!! By the way, 'oji-san' is a term used to called uncles. 'Ojii-san' with double 'i' means grandfather or old man.


	2. Alternate Life

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or the shippings. I own the universe which I created around them.

CHAPTAH 2!!

More info:

Tengan Zan – Mount Coronet  
Shinou – Sinnoh  
Kissaki City – Snowpoint City

* * *

**Chapter 2: Alternate Life**

The snowstorm passed when Hikari woke up next morning. Her mother shouted up the stairs that it was time for school and that school holidays were over. Not that Hikari hated school, she liked it. In fact, she liked going to school so much that her natural ability to learn while procrastinating kicked in full force when class started. She walked to her closet half asleep and pulled out her uniform and walked unsteadily to the bathroom.

Ayako was slicing sashimi when Hikari skipped in. She looked up to see Hikari flitting in and out of the kitchen looking for something.

"Mom, have you seen my hairclip? The golden triangle one?" she asked as she quickly opened each drawer and flipped the items in there quickly before proceeding to the next drawer.

"No, don't you think it's better to just tie your hair?" Ayako asked. Hikari apparently gave up searching in the kitchen and grabbed a sandwich sitting on the table and started munching on it.

"But I think I look weird in a ponytail or pigtails," she replied. The doorbell sounded and Hikari leapt up to answer the door.

A girl with short red hair that was brushed sideways wearing the standard winter school uniform was standing outside the door. "Nozomi! You're early. Where's Kengo?" Hikari asked. Nozomi pointed at the house down the road where a boy with brown hair wearing a white shirt with royal blue pants, also known as the boy's school uniform was visibly walking slowly down the street. Hikari sighed. Kengo had a reputation for being slow but his punctuality made up for his speed.

"Alright. Let me go get my bag and we can go," said Hikari and dashed inside. She found her bag on the sofa where she had dumped it earlier. "Mom, I'm going now. Bye!" she called as she dashed out of the house. Together with Nozomi, they caught up with Kengo who had a head start earlier and forced him to quicken his pace so as to be slightly earlier on time.

"Oh, Hikari, what happened to your clips?" Nozomi asked, noticing that the usual three sparkling golden hair clips were missing from Hikari's hair. Hikari hand subconsciously reached up to touch her hair where the clips usually were.

"Lost one of them," was her reply and she continued pushing Kengo forward despite Kengo's protests that they were in no hurry. Nozomi, on the other hand, was slightly shocked.

"Lost? LOST?? Even though I don't know who gave it you, but I do recall that you treasure them a LOT!" Nozomi exclaimed. Hikari brushed off her remark casually. "Relax, it's just one clip. It's not like my life is tied to them," Hikari replied in a casual tone, "Have you studied for the history test? I heard that they were going to test us from the feudal era, from the Muromachi period until the Meiji period. That's a lot to remember because the Edo period is already covering at least a hundred years. And who gives a test the moment we get back from a public holiday?" Nozomi sighed. Typical Hikari, who never paid the least bit attention in class and came out in the top five in all tests.

Finally they reached the school gates. There were only two lone people standing there as it was still early. The two people looked up and waved at them. One was a guy with messy black hair and wearing a slightly crumpled version on the school uniform with a green bag slinging from a shoulder. The other was a girl with brown hair that curved gracefully down the sides of her face. Her bright sapphire eyes matched the colour of her school skirt and her white blouse blended with the snow in the background. She was not holding on to any bag, all she had was a small pouch around her waist containing her daily necessities.

"Satoshi! Haruka! I thought we were the first people here," Hikari greeted both of them. Haruka just smiled and nodded. "I know," she said, her voice almost cracking with the urge to laugh, "Who in this city doesn't know Kengo's walking speed?" This caused the whole group except Kengo to stifle their laughter but were failing badly to do so. Kengo merely sighed. Hikari was laughing so hard that she failed to notice someone else walked up behind her.

"Eh? What's so funny that you guys almost failed to stand up properly?" asked a bored male voice behind her. They stopped laughing and glanced up for a moment. A slightly taller boy with violet hair and donning the same outfit for all boys was standing behind Hikari, his cold questioning glare looking for answers from them.

"Ohayou Ikari," said Hikari happily. He merely replied, "Ohayou" before turning to Satoshi.

"Were you revising last night instead of hanging out with Haruka?" he asked. Satoshi was stunned for a moment. "Oh crap! That Heisei era test!" he exclaimed while mentally kicking himself. The entire group, Shinji excluded, sweatdropped. Satoshi pulled out a pocket sized book and started flipping through it while cursing the teacher under his breath.

"You know, you can revise in the comfort of the school building's heater instead of freezing your butt off in this weather," Shinji stated. The snow was piled rather high and the temperature that morning was minus eight.

"Ikari's got a point," Kengo agreed and started to walk into the school at snail's pace. Satoshi dashed through the school gates, dragging Haruka with him while Nozomi tried to get Kengo to get into the building at a faster pace while making up all kinds of excuses. Shinji and Hikari were the only ones left standing by the gate.

"Well? Shouldn't you get going as well Berlitz?" asked Shinji. Hikari checked out her surroundings before dragging Shinji into the school premises. Finally they reached a deserted part of the school. Shinji's arm was nearly dying from the force Hikari was using. When Hikari let him go, the first thing he did was to demand a reason for over exerting her strength on his poor arm.

"What was that for Hikari?" Shinji grumbled as he tried to get the blood moving in his arm. "Oh sorry. I didn't think I was this strong," Hikari replied apologetically. "Now you know," was the incoherent reply she got from the near-victim of gangrene.

"So how was the archaeology site your uncle's working on?" she asked, deciding that a sudden change of subject was necessary. "Did the team find anything interesting? Did a loose rock overhead hit Reiji-san again?" She asked question after question until Shinji finally decided to answer her.

"No, my brother took extra precautions this time. The site's coming on fine, but there're still lots of things we were unable to figure out. We found a wall full of ancient writings in the Unown language but we had no idea what were they talking about," Shinji replied, not in the order they were asked though. He noticed that the usual golden sparkles were missing from her hair, but given Hikari's absentminded personality, he decided not to ask.

"Really?" Hikari's eyes shone with interest, "What were the writings talking about?"

"We're not too sure about it, basically it was talking about a century old rock with the ability to change into a rare rock with a weather phenomenon every 200 years. Maybe you can help decipher what it really meant. The last time I brought back the stone carved with the Unown language you were a big help," explained Shinji. Hikari thought hard. "A rock that can change according to the weather phenomenon, huh," she asked herself. "Maybe, it's what the Yamato army were after during the siege of the Yuki castle!" Shinji's blank look was obvious that he had completely forgotten about the historical event. Hikari wanted to strangle him.

"The siege of Yuki castle in the current Tengan Zan area. The Yamato clan were controlling a large area of the land then. The only state in the way was the Yuki state. Yuki basically means snow as it used to be somewhere near Kissaki City. The Yuki clan who controlled the area found a large crystal rock that possessed supernatural qualities. And it attracted the interest of the Yamato who wanted it under the claim that they were conquering more land for themselves. The shogun there was killed by the general of the army and the heir escaped. The crystal was never found though. Some say that the shogun's wife took it with to her grave," Hikari recited word for word from the textbook.

"But that doesn't explain why the Yamato clan wanted it," protested Shinji. Hikari's patience went past the limit.

"I'm not going to further explain this anymore Shinji. Go look up the online articles!" she growled. Her anger subsided when Shinji wrapped his arms around her.

"Geez, relax Hikari. I totally fail at stuff like that ok? What matters I'm still standing here instead of ending up like aniki last holiday," Shinji told Hikari. Hikari thought back of her vivid dream last night. It sounded like what she had just recited. Was that, perhaps, the fall of the Yuki state? If so, where is the crystal rock now? That woman was seriously injured and died. She said something about the crystal before she died. _Damn, why does my brain tend to stop working when crucial details are required?? _Hikari mentally kicked herself. She vaguely heard Shinji call her back from reality.

"I heard you Shinji," she told the older boy nonchalantly when he kept repeating her name.

"Well… I thought you went back to those days when you were prone to fainting," was the smart rebut she got. Hikari recalled what she had been thinking of before Shinji decided to interfere with his cold cut remarks.

"Ne, Shinji, last night – " she started to say but the bell was heard ringing faintly away. She mentally cursed the bell to one day break down beyond repair.

"Tell me about it later. Don't forget to not use first name basis when there are other people around," Shinji reminded her. "I know. I'll get killed by your fangirls if I did. I mean, you ARE the most untypical popular guy ever," Hikari said and ran to her class where Nozomi was already seated.

"Hurry up Hikari, the teacher's going to arrive anytime," Nozomi told Hikari who was just getting out her stationery. Hikari's mind subconsciously went back to her dream. Maybe it would be better if she looked up the section of the fall of the Yuki state again.

* * *

Didn't think that I'll do my homework right? The war I made it up, but the rest was taken from a history article.


	3. Deciphered Writing

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Chapter 3, woot! I'll be nice and give an extra chapter since I just finished 7's draft last night. Maybe extra nice since it's 3 more days till I start school. Thanks for reviews, really!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Deciphered Writing**

Lunch came slower than Hikari would have liked. She rushed through the history test so that she can get some extra time to drop by the library and pick up the book on one of the bloodiest wars in the feudal era. She was so engrossed in searching for the particular section she was looking for that Nozomi had to personally drag Hikari away from the classroom.

"Hikari, at the rate you are researching, you will need glasses," Nozomi reprimanded gently when Hikari protested. Hikari finally relented to let Nozomi drag her to where the entire gang were. Haruka looked up to see Nozomi pulling a very reluctant Hikari and forcing the latter to sit down.

"Just the person we're looking for," said Haruka. She gave Hikari some photos. All of them depicted a strange writing on a wall. "Ikari just showed it to us. But none of us had the real ability to see it as English as you can."

Hikari took them and glanced at Shinji who was staring at his own set of photos taken at the ruin site. Satoshi gave Hikari a spare piece of paper and Hikari began to write each character down. When she finished, she nearly could not believe what she was reading.

"Ok Ikari, start explaining," Hikari demanded. Shinji looked up and saw that the paper was nearly touching his face.

"Explain what? I don't have any idea what you are writing at all," Shinji said. Hikari mentally slapped herself. She had written them down in English and had not translated it to Japanese. She did a quick translation and shoved the paper to Shinji.

"Eh…? What's this?" he asked. Even in Japanese, the words still made no sense. He added the phrase that Reiji had found. "Maybe you were right Berlitz. It may have something to do with the siege of the Yuki castle." Hikari smiled happily. She loved it when she was right.

"I knew it," Hikari said triumphantly, "But I can't trace the crystal since then. Ikari, you're the archaeologist-to-be here. What do you think?" Kengo took it and read it over with Satoshi.

" 'A rock of pure white that spanned six centuries'. That's six hundred years," stated Satoshi. Haruka rolled her eyes while saying 'Who doesn't know that?" under her breath. But it sparked her interest as well.

" 'Colour that changes when red, gold and blue comes'. I know this. Ikari said it was related to the weather. But red, gold and blue? What's red, gold and blue?" asked Haruka. Shinji looked up briefly.

"Red, heatwave or draught. Gold, most likely thunderstorms. Blue, prolonged winter or another ice age," he explained. His brain was nearly fried, why was it so hard to find out the meaning of a damn block of writing? He wanted to kill whoever wrote it on the wall.

" 'When the weather phenomenon passes, three beings will become one'. Sounds like the legend of the lakes," Kengo stated. There were still more to come.

" 'Only with the power of the soul of the past with three lives will the calamity be calmed'. Oh? This is interesting," said Nozomi. "Sounds like reincarnation." She noticed something else. "Ikari, what's the bottom-most phrase?"

Hikari leaned over to look. " 'A girl named after day's first light will be the final'. No idea," Hikari recited with a questioning look. She looked at Shinji who seemed to have contracted a headache. "Did you add that last part Ikari?"

Shinji was obviously already very irritated and ready to snap at anyone who called him. "Oh, then forget I asked anything," Hikari quickly said. What they managed to get out still made no sense. If a crystal rock had existed for six hundred years, why wasn't there any record of it? Six hundred years dated back to the the mid Muromachi period, when the Yamato daimyo attacked an isolated state. Hikari's head began to hurt. _Why is everything revolving around the Yuki siege?_ She asked herself.

* * *

A/N: eto... truly sorry for the shortness. No comments here, just R&R!!


	4. Mystery Book

Disclaimer: I shall officially hate disclaimers for the rest of my life. I don't own Pokemon and how many more times do I have to type this in?

Chapter 4 now. This story was starting to get on my nerves coz of its original inability to complete. But that's solved now. I'll upload the other one on Friday. Will have to rush chapter 9 tonight and start on chapter 10 or I'll really be FAR behind.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Mystery Book**

After lunch saw something new. Hikari noticed a violet card on almost every girl's desk, except hers and Nozomi's. There was some writing on the inside that was too small for her to see clearly. Nozomi noticed them as well. She turned to the group of girls gossiping at the back of the class.

"Shingo-san!" Nozomi called. The girl being addressed turned back to face Nozomi. Nozomi held up the violet card and asked, "What this?" The girl called Shingo walked up to Nozomi.

"Oh. You didn't one?" Shingo said as she took the card from Nozomi, "I think that's because you are friends with him so…"

Hikari was puzzled. "Friends with whom? Kengo? Satoshi? Ikari?" she asked. Shingo opened the card.

"It's calling all girls to join something called 'The Ikari Fanclub'. But personally, I was wondering myself whether such a club can be allowed to exist," Shingo shrugged. She threw the card into the trash can. "I feel sorry for Ikari. He's attracting more attention from that discovery in the ruins," said Shingo and she went back to her group of friends, leaving Hikari and Nozomi's mind a blank. _Ikari Fanclub?!_ Hikari mouthed the words to Nozomi. The red haired girl was puzzled as well. After thinking for a while, she told Hikari, "Just ask Ikari after school."

* * *

End of school. Hikari never felt more depressed. Although Nozomi shared the same class with her, Kengo wanted to go somewhere with Nozomi, leaving Hikari to walk home solo. Satoshi, Haruka and Shinji were all in the same grade but Satoshi and Haruka had to study together or nothing will go into Satoshi's head. That left Shinji who was free. Hikari did not quite like the idea of being murdered by the new members of that strange fanclub, so she left on her own. When she opened her shoe locker, the first thing she noticed was not her shoes, but a piece of ripped paper from a notebook. It read, 'I want to ask you something else. Go to my house after school. Shinji'. Hikari quickly tore in up in case someone behind her saw it. She quickly changed shoes and left, scattering the bits of paper in the snow.

"Oka-san! Tadaima!" Hikari called as she opened the door. Nobody answered her. _Oka-san must have gone to work then_, Hikari thought to herself as she ran into her room. She dumped her schoolbag and went to the bathroom to change out of her school uniform. Something caught her eye when she came out. It was a small cage set in a corner of her room. It was set so carefully that it was almost unnoticeable. Hikari changed into casual clothes and went to inspect it.

In the cage was a small hamster. It was curled up in a fur ball, obviously asleep. A food bowl heaped with food was in the middle of the cage and a drinking bottle hung from the side. An exercise wheel was on the other side of the door. A note was taped on the cage.

'_Hikari, you always wanted a pet to care for. So I got this hamster. It will be better than a fish you originally wanted. It will be your responsibility to keep the cage clean and feed the hamster with water daily. Mum_'

Hikari wanted to jump in joy. A hamster was definitely WAY better than a fish. The hamster sensed the presence of another person and woke up, its whiskers twitching and the ears flattened against its head. Hikari took it out gingerly. The hamster seemed to be slightly frightened but stayed quite still. Hikari smiled at it and put it back. It went straight back to its corner and fell asleep.

Her cell phone rang, breaking the silence of the house and nearly scaring Hikari. The caller identity on the phone showed that it was Shinji. "H-hello?" Hikari asked shakily.

"Hikari, did you get my message?" Shinji said on the other side.

"Yeah. I was going to leave now really," replied Hikari.

"Penalty for lateness is to get snowballed," said Shinji seriously and hung up. Hikari wanted to laugh. Shinji sure gets serious about such trivial things. She put on a winter jacket and ran to Shinji's house at the end of the street.

* * *

The house loomed over Hikari when she arrived, blocking the sun from shining into her face. Technically, it should be a mansion instead. She stopped in front of the gates and saw a medium sized dog with golden fur pounce joyfully over to her.

"Hi Sun," she greeted as the dog barked. She petted in on the head as Reiji ran over.

"Sun! I told you not to run anywhere you liked," Reiji said sternly. He noticed Hikari standing outside the gate as Sun's ears drooped.

"Hi, Hikari-kun. Did Shinji call you over?"

Hikari nodded. "Can you let me in? It's freezing," she said. Reiji nodded and gave her a signal to wait for a moment. The gate swung open and Sun literally tackled Hikari to the ground and nuzzled her face affectionately.

"Ok, Sun," she laughed, "Can I get up now?" The dog walked away as Hikari stood up, brushing snow from her body. She went in and Sun followed happily. Reiji opened the door for Hikari but stopped Sun from going in.

"I'll take Sun to the back of the house. You can drop by to play with him later," Reiji told Hikari and shut the door.

Hikari walked up to the third floor where Shinji's room occupied the entire level. She knocked on the only door there. The door immediately opened but there was nobody behind it. The room was shrouded in darkness, even the windows were tightly sealed from the blinding light reflected by the snow outside. Hikari walked in cautiously. The door squeaked as it seemed to shut on its own. The only light in the room was the flickering screen of the computer on the other side of the room.

"S-Shinji?" Hikari called tentatively. Her steps were nervous as she made her way to the computer. The information there was interesting enough to capture her attention until…

"Hikari? What are you doing?" Shinji asked suddenly behind her. Hikari's life force was nearly scared out of her. After some processing that the voice was Shinji's, she tried to calm down her racing heartbeat.

"What the HECK are you doing behind me?!" she demanded, her actions ready to kill him.

"Whoa, relax Berlitz," Shinji replied quickly his hands half raised in surrender, "I went to the kitchen and knew that you reached my room just as I found some snacks so I opened the door via a remote. I just got back and here you are demanding to know what I was doing." He left and the lights came on. She took a quick glance around the room. It had not changed much since she was here last spring to prepare for a surprise birthday present for Haruka. The modern design of the room gave it a rather cold atmosphere. Most of the furniture were made of either metal or glass. A large television stood at the far right side of the level, partly covered by a movable partition. A low platform was in front of the television with a bed hollowed out from the center. The bathroom was situated just outside the partition and covered a rather large area by itself.

Hikari's heartbeat slowed to its usual pace and turned to face Shinji angrily who was looking past the curtains covering the windows. "Ok Shinji, what did you ask me here for?" she asked. Shinji deliberately avoided the question and walked innocently to the side of his bed with Hikari following angrily in tow. She sat down Japanese style in front of the Shinji who was flipping through a book that looked rather old.

"So, Ikari, have you any purpose you called me over?" asked Hikari who was a little aware that she may be talking to a wall. A living, moving wall. "Or you can't wait until tomorrow?"

Shinji looked up briefly. "Wait until tomorrow for what?" he asked. Hikari wanted to kick his head. Sometimes she thought that Shinji had been annoying Satoshi for too long until he got Satoshi's denseness virus. His eyes flickered back to the book he was browsing through and handed it to Hikari.

"I just thought that it may help you with your end of year history project," was the brief sentence she got. The book had no title but the content was interesting. Hikari waned to dance; it was the extra information of the Yamato conquers she wanted but there were no other records on other books of it.

"OH MY GOD!! Thanks Shinji!! You really are the best!!" Hikari nearly shrieked and kissed him quickly on his cheek before flipping through the pages. She completely failed to notice that red blood was rushing up to Shinji's face.

Hikari stared at the page. It was a picture that consisted of five diagrams that stretched from right to left. The diagrams were in color and she vaguely wondered where it came from. The five pictures were all the same and it varied from color to color until it became a rainbow. It was the shape of the picture that caught her attention. Could it be…?

"Shinji. Where did you get this?" she asked, her eyes never leaving the drawings of the crystal. Shinji who had been daydreaming while staring blankly at the ceiling looked at her.

"From a random stranger. Where else did you think I can get it from?" he replied in a sarcastic manner. Then he noticed that Hikari under her seemingly cool exterior. Something was up. Hikari never got panicked over a bit of history discrepancy.

"Actually… There was something I wanted to tell you in the morning, but there wasn't time. Then when you showed the ruin photos to the others and I decoded the Unown prophecy, I didn't think there was a link…" Hikari mumbled, mostly to herself. Shinji's ears were not that sensitive though.

"Huh? Speak louder Hikari," he said. Hikari seemed to be oblivious to everything from the outside world. Now Shinji was starting to worry.

"Hikari??" he asked again. This time it had the desired effect. Hikari's attention tore away from the book and looked at him. "Yes?" she replied in a monotone voice. Her face was paler than usual. _Now I really wanna know what was causing her to panic_, Shinji thought to himself. Hikari, on the other hand, was really starting to lose her mind. Shinji sighed and took the book away. Hikari did not resist and allowed the book to slip through her hands. Shinji placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently.

"Hikari, are you realy ok?" he asked. "Maybe you should go home and rest. I'll take you home. Come on." Hikari's mind was still in a state of shock, confusion and let Shinji to help her up and lead her home. Even the sudden change in temperature and the chilling wind had no effect on her. She felt like her world had gone numb.

When Shinji somehow got her keys and opened the door, Hikari went inside out of instinct. "Are you really fine?" asked Shinji just as he was about to leave. Hikari nodded, although barely noticeable. "Yeah, thanks," she murmured and shut the door, leaving Shinji outside deeply concerned although he did not show it. Checking the time o his watch, he turned around and set off down the street.

* * *

4th chapter dooooooooooooone...!! Now to finish up 9.


	5. Truth

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon nor the characters. Well… If I did… If I did… er… Shinji will be less cold. He'll be the hottest guy ever created XD

5th chapter, someone dance with me!! Almost everything will be revealed here. Almost.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Truth**

Hikari did not turn up in school the next day. Nozomi had called on Hikari earlier and Ayako said she was down with a slight fever. On the exterior, Shinji did not seem to care, which was the appearance he was supposed to be giving others. On the inside, he was really worried. He thought that she would be happy finding information that was not usually obtainable.

"Ne, Nozomi," Haruka addressed the flame-haired tomboy to change the subject and break the strange silence. "Aren't you supposed to be going back to Yosuka City next week?" Nozomi gave a blank stare.

"Go to Yosuka? For what?" she asked.

Haruka looked slightly worried. "You go to Yosuka every year. You said that you were from Yosuka when you moved here."

Nozomi's eyes reflected panic. "I never said I was from Yosuka. I'm from Futaba."

Kengo and Satoshi were surprised as well. "But Nozomi, only Hikari and I are from Futaba. You said that you were from Yosuka. Haruka was from Touka in Hoenn, Ikari from Tobari and Satoshi from Masara, Kanto," Kengo said.

Nozomi shook her head. "Not possible!! I'm from Futaba!" she replied, her voice laced with a hysterical tone.

"You moved here when you were five. Across the road from Hikari," Satoshi pointed out.

"Wrong!! I was BORN in Futaba!!"

"Akada Nozomi, relax," Haruka said firmly but Nozomi was still panicking.

"I'm not Akada Nozomi! I'm Kido Nozomi!!"

All, except Shinji were stunned.

"But – but Nozomi," Haruka stuttered, "the only Kido Nozomi here… Is-is dead!!" Hearing that fact from Haruka, Shinji's interest in the matter shot up sky high.

"Kido Nozomi was hit by a swerving truck that skidded out of control when she was five. Around the mid winter," Satoshi continued for Haruka. Shinji suddenly stood up, shocking everyone.

"I'm going to Hikari's house," he merely stated and left. The four of them were stunned, especially Haruka and Nozomi.

"Did… Ikari-san... just called Hikari-chan as 'Hikari'?"asked Kengo.

"No suffix at the end? Not even a '-san', '-chan' or '-kun'?" inquired Haruka.

Nozomi shook her head. "Nope, no suffix. I heard it distinctly."

Satoshi scratched his head. "Strange, he always referred to Hikari as 'Berlitz'."

* * *

Hikari sat on her queen sized bed and stared out of the window from her bedroom on the second floor. Outside was the same scenery she had seen every year. Pure white snow on the sidewalks, flower pots and rooftops while the road remained a contrasting black. She turned her attention to the furball running happily across her bed. _At least something's having fun_, she thought as her mind wandered back to the diagrams in the book Shinji had shown her. It disturbed her that the picture was drawn like something right down to the exact detail. But resembling what? Hikari sure hated her memory at times like this. She watched Kawaii tumble down from the pillow it was attempting to scale subconsciously. Ayako had gone to work shortly after telling Nozomi that Hikari was sick, and it left Hikari in the house alone. The arrangement was perfectly fine by Hiakri who wanted to recollect her memories to find out what had been nagging her mind for so long.

The doorbell suddenly rang, cutting through the silence in the house like a knife, scaring both human and hamster. Kawaii squeaked in annoyance. Hikari quickly scooped up the hamster, put it back in the cage and ran to the door. She turned the knob and the person on the other side pushed the door open forcefully.

"What the…?" Hikari started to say but the hair colour visible just above the scarf told her another story; that a certain someone had skipped school. "Shinji?!"

The person addressed tugged away the scarf and took a deep breath. He nearly suffocated himself with the scarf in his hurry to get to Hikari's house. He scanned Hikari up and down. Nozomi was half right, Hikari's face was pale and her face slightly flushed. But she lacked the other symptoms a fever victim usually displayed.

"Hikari, I heard from Akada. Are you really alright? You seem… strange since yesterday," he said. Hikari closed the door quickly. The winter air was making her house chilly. "Er, yeah. More or less," she replied. "Erm, you can leave your jacket over there." She pointed to a clothes stand by the TV. But a moving clump of cream coloured fur caught her eye.

"KAWAII!!" she cried, scooting over to pick up the little rodent. Kawaii turned around on her hand, looking for a safe spot to jump from. Shinji looked at the hamster. "New pet?" he asked. Hikari stood up. "Yeah," she answered, "Wonder how it got out. I'll put it back so give me a minute ok?" She ran up to her room, leaving Shinji alone in the living room. Her house was much smaller than his own. An electric heater stood in a corner of the living room. The brand of the heater was spelled out in big letters, so big that the word _Heatran_ was readable from where Shinji was standing. A large blue sofa stood between two other smaller lighter blue sofas. A glass table was standing in front of the large TV. Hikari appeared from the stairs.

"Ahaha, sorry Shinji," she apologized. "I didn't realize that I forgot to lock the cage." She looked at the clock. "So what brings you here when school is not yet out?" Shinji sat down on a sofa while Hikari took the one beside him.

"Didn't you have something to tell yesterday morning?" he asked. Hikari tried to recall what she had wanted to say. Then it hit her hard. The diagrams in the book were exactly the same as the one she saw in her dream, the same white crystal a certain dead soul had been talking about, and what the conquering army were after. "My god…" she said quietly to herself.

"What?" Shinji asked. "Hikari, you really have to speak louder."

Hikari looked up. "Oh, sorry, I was talking to myself," she said. "So what did your uncle and Reiji-san say about that bit of Unown phrase?"

"They said that there might be some chance that the six hundred year old crystal existed. If it still exists, they want to find it and study it," he replied, then saw Hikari looking at the ground. "Why do you ask?"

Hikari did not look up. "Shinji, what if I said that I know where the crystal is?" she said softly. Shinji looked at her incredulously. "Really?" he asked in astonishment. Hikari picked up the TV remote and switched on the TV. She turned to Shinji and nodded. "Well, then where is it?" he demanded. The TV's bright lights flashed across the room as Hikari had drawn the curtains to prevent the blinding light from infiltrating the room.

"Need a TV? Rotom sets are the answer for all your entertainment needs," the advertisement announced happily. The silence resumed after Hikari switched to an AV channel and the screen turned pure blue.

Hikari sighed. "Ok, you probably won't believe me but your part time job as an archaeologist forces you to read into superstition, but all current logic defies what I have to tell you. But still, seeing your kind of character it might not look convincing as-"

Shinji raised his hand, motioning her to stop. "Ok ok, stop going around in circles. Where is it?" he asked. Hikari looked at the TV screen. "Maybe she could give you a better explanation," she answered while pointing at the screen. Shinji looked at the screen. To his shock, instead of seeing the usual blue screen, he saw a woman's face. Her hairstyle was akin to those from the Feudal era. She bore striking resemblance to Hikari, Shinji noted. From the hair colour to the facial outlines.

"I'm sorry. Did I startle your friend?" asked the woman in the TV. Hikari giggled. "Well, who would have expected to see a person on screen without the aid of a DVD player?"

Shinji looked back and forth between his girlfriend and the woman in the TV. "You KNOW each other?" he said incredulously. Hikari smiled and got up. "Shinji," she said gently, "Meet the person I was in my past: queen of the Yuki state, Hikari Yuuda." It took five full minutes for Shinji to process that bit of information. "REINCARNATION??" he exclaimed much later. "He took it better than I thought," Hikari told the Hikari in the TV. "You better give me a proper explanation for this," Shinji mumbled. TV Hikari shrugged, "Well, if that's what you want… But I think it would be better if she had the honour of explaining it."

_Flashback_

_Shortly after she returned from Shinji's house, Hikari developed a massive headache and nearly collapsed. Ayako noticed that Hikari was straining herself to stay wary._

"_Hikari!! You should go to bed right now," Ayako said firmly. Hikari tried to protest, saying that she had homework but Ayako was having none of it."If you are still feeling unwell in the morning, I'll inform Akada when she comes around tomorrow morning." With that, Ayako gave Hikari some aspirin and made her sleep._

_What Hikari saw in her dream was exactly the same as what she saw in the previous night. The burning castle, someone saving a treasure but sustained a fatal injury in the process. But after that, Hikari found herself floating in some kind of space. Someone was standing in front of her. A woman who looked exactly the same as the one who had died._

"_That was what happened when I tried to save the precious rock," she said, looking at a screen where the fight was being replayed. Hikari was still speechless._

"_YOU were the one they shot??" she asked. More of a shout than a question, she noted mentally. The woman looked at her, her features finally visible. Hikari nearly screamed, the woman had looked exactly like her, only older._

"_OK, cut the crap. Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?" Hikari shot question after question. The woman touched the screen briefly before answering, "I am, or what I used to be, the queen of the Yuki state. As you can see already, I took the crystal to safety but ended up being another head for the death toll."_

_Hikari nodded, following the story well. "But you said to burn the crystal so that you can take it to you to afterlife," Hikari noted. The queen nodded. "Yes, I was reincarnated twice before becoming you, Hikari Berlitz."_

_Hikari really wanted out of this nightmare. "WHAT!! I had two more lives?!" she shouted. Luckily, she was in the dream world, her mother would not be able to hear her. Two more screens appeared. One containing the remains of a bombed building with a girl with visible blue hair was bring crushed by a large piece of the wall, and another where a similar girl was on a tall building, looking down at an enormous flood._

"_Twice I was reborn as human, twice I have met with weather disasters. In those days there were no such things as the Absol Phenomenon Institute to send instant information about any strange weather patterns. There were also no direct TV broadcasting from the Castform Weather Report about any weather occurence," the woman continued to explain. Hikari stifled a laugh; the Absol Phenomenon Institute was a fairly new organization which succeeded beyond anyone's imagination. The Castform Weather Report was the side organization that worked for Jubilife TV Station, broadcasting weather after the news every morning and night_

"_The first reincarnation, the country was at war with other countries. Worse, there was a drought as well. The Hikari then, happened to be under a large piece of falling wall that crumbled from a bomb blast." The first screen showed a huge explosion then a girl crushed under a wall. Hikari tried to forget the disturbing bit of video._

"_The second reincarnation was in a country potential to weather hazards. Endless rain plagued the city, resulting in a huge flood. But it was lucky the Hikari of that time escaped harm. Somehow, she managed to tap into the crystal's power to save herself." The girl in the second screen was looking sorrowfully down at the underwater city._

_Hikari thought of something. "But where is the crystal?" The woman made all three screens vanish. "The crystal was inside them all along, tied to their soul. Should they, the vessel themselves perish, the crystal bound to the soul will bring the soul to a new body to reside. The new body becomes the vessel. Their destiny is very simple. All they have to do is to keep the crystal safe until it turned into a Rainbow crystal." The woman pointed at Hikari. There was a reddish orange glow coming from her. "What the-!!" she exclaimed. From her, out came a crystal. The red colour from the left side blended beautifully with the yellow from the left side, creating a deep sunset orange. "So, I'm the new vessel?" she asked. The woman nodded happily. "Yup, you are my latest reincarnation. Also the last vessel to ever hold the crystal in custody. However, there is something I should really tell you."_

_Hikari looked up, surprised at the sudden serious tone. "What?" she asked._

"_Apparently, if you happen to perish, the crystal, after it has turned into a rainbow crystal, is easily available to anyone who wants it, whether for a good or evil purpose. I myself have not uncovered the mysterious powers of the crystal. To obtain the crystal in any way, you will have to die," said the woman, her face showing zero signs of joking. She looked away for a moment. "That boyfriend of yours, Shinji Ikari, someone close to him is wanting the crystal desperately. I will advise you to be more wary of people around you. If you ever want to find me, just switch on your TV to the AV channel. And now, the time has come for you to return to reality."_

_Hikari woke up with a jolt. She could hear her mother talking to Nozomi downstairs. She waited until much later when she was certain her mother had left, she went downstairs to draw the curtains. Outside people may think she was slightly on the lunatic side if she was found talking to a TV. After confirming that the Hikari of the Feudal era will talk to Shinji if he ever came asking about the cargo she was holding onto, Hikari finally allowed her restless hamster out for a run. What she did not expect was to see Shinji outside her doorstep during school hours._

_End of flashback_

Shinji was deep in thought. "You were saying, that all the carriers of the crystal can tap into the crystal's power somehow?" he asked. Hikari Yuuda nodded. "That is possible only through an emotional surge. Like the pure terror of dying r something equally devastating," she confirmed. Shinji looked at Hikari. "What?" she asked irritably. "Nothing," he answered, "Thanks Yuuda-san." TV Hikari smiled and slowly vanished.

"You heard her," Hikari said nonchalantly, "I'll have to die if you wanna study that crystal." Shinji kept quiet. "Shinji? Hello?" Hikari asked with concern. Finally, after some time, Shinji decided to ask Hikari that one thing that had been troubling him.

"Hikari, do you know of a dead person by the name of Kido Nozomi?"

* * *

Eh... Chapter 9 is longer than I expected... But I'll manage. The little button on the bottom left hand corner is begging to be hit. So please fulfil its request


	6. Truth pt II

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon, nor the locations of each city and building names or whatever Pokemon reference you can find.

Chapter 6 to help me get distracted

* * *

**Chapter 6: Truth part 2**

"Hikari, do you know of a dead person by the name of Kido Nozomi?"

The silence in the house seemed somewhat ominous. Hikari was stunned into silence.

"Kido Nozomi…I don't know… I don't know anything!!" Hikari literally shouted back. Shinji was taken aback; Hikari seldom lost control of herself. "Hikari RELAX!" he tried to calm her down but she was already pushing him out of the door. He caught hold of the door frame and forced Hikari to stop her movements and look at him. "Wait!! What's the matter?" he asked but Hikari flung his jacket straight into his face. "GET OUT!!" she shouted and slammed the door shut. Shinji was left standing outside in the chilly winter air staring at her house door. _Must be PMS-ing_, he thought to himself as he turned left to go home.

Hikari leaned against the door breathing hard. Shinji's question had hit a wound from the past. She went upstairs and found an old photo album. The pictures in the album depicted a younger Hikari and a girl who looked like Nozomi. Behind one particular picture, some of the words had said "Berlitz Hikari and Kido Nozomi, December 19 2003". Hikari looked at it sorrowfully and took a trip back down the memory lane.

_Flashback_

_Two small girls were playing with snow behind the row of houses that lined the street. "Ne, Nozomi, look at this," called out the five-year-old Hikari. Kido Nozomi, same age as Hikari, looked up, only to be hit by a snowball. Hikari giggled as Nozomi brushed off the snow from her face. "My turn, Berlitz," she said, smiling evilly. Hikari got ready to run as Nozomi possessed very good aim. When the snowball flew, Hikari ran but the snowball hit her anyway._

"_Ok, kids, stop for a while," a woman with red hair came out of Nozomi's house. "Aww, mama, can't we play for a little longer?" Nozomi protested. Nozomi's mother shook her head. "No, it will take you kids until night time to realize that playtime's over."_

_Hikari smiled. "Nozomi, why don't you come over tomorrow then? We can play in the park behind my house."_

_Nozomi agreed enthusiastically. "May I go to Hikari's house tomorrow mama?" Nozomi asked. Nozomi's mother agreed. "Wait kids, there's something I want you to do before you go in to warm yourselves," she said while pulling out a camera. "Ok, say cheese."_

_The next day, Nozomi went out of the house early in the morning. Hikari's house was directly across the street. She looked up to Hikari's window and saw the blue haired-girl waving at her and disappeared._

"_Nozomi, be careful when you are playing with Hikari ok?" her mother reminded her from the house. Nozomi nodded before waiting for Hikari to come out of the house._

"_Nozomi, here!" Hikari shouted. Nozomi watched for any incoming vehicles before crossing the road. But what she failed to foresee was the truck that lost control after skidding on slippery ice._

_For Hikari, it was like everything was in slow motion. For a second Nozomi was crossing the road to meet her. The next thing she knew, a large truck appeared where Nozomi was standing and she could not see Nozomi. It was after her brain processed the whole incident that she realized what happened. _

"_NOZOMI!!"_

_End of flashback_

Akada Nozomi had looked a lot like Kido Nozomi, so Hikari had never paid much attention to why. _Maybe Shinji knows something, that's why he asked, _she thought. She wanted to talk to Shinji again but being reminded of her actions towards him caused her to think twice. _Maybe he's angry at me for suddenly throwing him out. Oh well, I'm dead. Shinji never forgets a grudge, _she thought as her hands drew back from her phone. Hikari kicked herself for her rash actions earlier. _Daijoubu daijoubu_, she thought, her motto in life kicking back in. _I see him in school everyday anyway. Piece of cake!_

* * *

The large golden dog jumped up and tried to bury Shinji in the snow when he opened the gates to his house. He pushed the dog off as Reiji appeared and pulled the overly excited dog away.

"Shinji, you sure are early today," said Reiji as Sun attempted to pounce on Shinji again. The younger brother muttered something inaudible and strode to the door. His hand paused on the door knob and he turned around to face his older brother.

"Aniki, you remember the piece of wall I found on the last outing? The latest Unown phrase that Hikari decoded?" he asked. Reiji nodded. "Yes, why do you ask?" he repled as he tried to get Sun to stay still. Shinji debated mentally whether to tell his brother. _Who cares, someone other than me HAS to find out sooner or later_, he thought to himself as he came to a decision.

"What if I said that I know where the crystal is?" he said. Reiji's actions stopped. "What? Really?" Reiji answered, happiness evident in his voice. "That's amazing Shinji. We can finally get to study the mysterious properties of the stone!" Then he noticed that Shinji did not look too happy. "What? Aren't you somehow happy on the inside in this major breakthrough?"

Shinji sighed. It was harder than he thought. "Er… Just put that retarded animal away and I'll tell you inside," he replied and slammed the door shut. Reiji glanced at Sun who was jumping among the piles of snow. "That was mean of him. He used to play with Sun when he was younger," he mumbled as he called Sun to come to him.

* * *

Shinji threw his jacket onto a nearby chair and sat down on the platform where his bed was. It was bad enough that Hikari possessed the crystal, but now she had used the power of the crystal to recreate an illusion that fooled not only herself and the people around her, but literally everybody in Shinou city. There was never a girl called Akada Nozomi. It was all an illusion created by Hikari. After he had left Hikari's place, he called Satoshi and Haruka who told him about Kido Nozomi. Hikari had zero idea that the Nozomi that she saw everyday was a fake being created since she was five and he did not want to be the one who would break this bit of news to her.

"Shinji?" Reiji called from the door. "What is it you wanted to say?" Shinji got up and walked to the door. He did not quite trust his brother in his territory. Last time Reiji was here, he found a whole lot of potential blackmail information, also known as his daily log book.

"Hikari has the crystal," he stated, "But you know the ancient ways of keeping something as valuable as that safe. The crystal is attached to her soul so if we want to get it, Hikari will have to die. Seriously!!"

Reiji was shocked. Who would have expected someone that you know to possess something important but will have to sacrifice herself in the name of historical studies?

"Then, studying the crystal would be impossible, because nobody will want to see Hikari-kun die," he said softly. Sighing slightly, he told Shinji, "I'll try to convince Oji-san to drop the idea of studying the crystal then. But he can be really difficult to persuade. Also, we never know what he can do with his power and influence. So you better keep an eye on Hikari-kun until he says that we are not going after the crystal anymore." Shinji nodded wordlessly and closed the door.

* * *

nuuuu… Chapter 9 is done as well as the mini crack shot at the end. Started the last chapter's structure, but I was more interested in the latest DP episodes XDDD


	7. Betrayal, or not?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon. I sure wish I did. That would stop flamewars back on SPPF.

Erm... not getting reviews lately... should re-consider holding it on hiatus or not, to improve my remaining chapters.

On a side note, just a warning. I'm no good at emotional scenes. Action, yes. Description, yes. Emotional scenes, no. I tried, but if you guys think it can be improved, send me a PM if possible. If not just send me an email. I'll try to amend the scenes and replace them.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Betrayal, or not?**

Hikari turned up in school like nothing happened on the previous day. Except that Nozomi was not around. The red haired girl did not turn up at Hikari's house that morning, forcing Kengo to pick up Hikari. As if Nozomi's absence had not made things worse, snow was falling heavily when they reached school. Satoshi, Haruka and Shinji not in the shoe locker room so Hikari assumed that they were already in class. By the time Hikari switched shoes, it was almost time for lessons so she had almost no time to drop by their class to say hi.

Nozomi was still missing when lunch break came. Even the teachers were clueless why she was not in school. Satoshi and Haruka were playing with something that looked like electronics, while Shinji was effectively ignoring them. Kengo was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi guys, where's Nozomi, does anyone know?" Hikari asked the group. Satoshi and Haruka replied that they had not seen her since the day before. Shinji did not answer. "Oi, Ikari, I'm talking to you," Hikari said with annoyance. Shinji looked at her straight in the eye. "Were you?" he asked. "I had the impression that you were talking to a couple of lovey dovey people whose motto is 'spread peace'." Hikari and Shinji started shooting mock sparks at each other. _It's all for show Berlitz_, she told herself as she clenched her fists.

"Should we back off? Hikari looks ready to explode," Satoshi asked Haruka. "Yes. Definitely. Come on," replied Haruka who was watching Hikari fearfully. Both of them scuttled off, leaving Hikari and Shinji shooting sparks at each other.

"So what did you wanna say yesterday before I chased you out?" Hikari asked, after making sure that no one else was around. "Nothing, since you chased me out," Shinji replied airily. Hikari tapped her foot loudly on purpose. After a few minutes of monotonous tapping, Shinji gave up.

"Ok, alright. I think that you somehow managed to get the crystal's power," Shinji finally said after getting annoyed by the endless tapping. "Which is why I think Akada-san is not here. I know that Kido Nozomi was a good friend of yours when you were younger."

Judging by Hikari's face, she did not get the link. "So?" she prompted.

Shinji's tone suddenly turned serious. "I think that you used the powers to recreate another Kido Nozomi. Only this time she wasn't called Kido. It was Akada."

"What?! No way, NO WAY!! That's not possible," Hikari denied.

"It's possible. That woman in the TV said so. Emotional surge or whatever she called it, can invoke the power of the crystal. You used to invoked power to recreate another girl like Kido Nozomi. That's really smart Berlitz. You fooled not only yourself, you fooled the entire city with an illusion," Shinji pointed out. "Now that you realized that you hold the crystal, Akada disappeared. How are you going to explain this to the school? How are you going to tell this to Kongobara?"

"Kengo will probably hate me for life. I'm so screwed," Hikari cried. Shinji felt some pity for the blue haired girl crying next to him. It was definitely hard for someone to accept reality which they had been hiding from for so long. Shinji put a hand on Hikari's shoulder.

"Erm… Look, don't cry ok? 'Coz you're not the only one feeling bad if you cry," Shinji said. Just then his cell phone rang. Shinji cursed the caller while checking the caller identification. "Be right back," Shinji said hurriedly while half running, half walking to a quiet corner to answer the call.

* * *

Shinji found a deserted corridor to talk. Reiji had called him.

"Yes, aniki? I'm in _school_," Shinji put emphasis on the word 'school'. Reiji who on the other line said nothing. Talking back to Shinji could sometimes lead into an argument that could last up to a few weeks. He had seen too many instances when Hikari did that and both of them ended up not talking for a month.

"Ano, Shinji… Akagi oji-san was harder to persuade than I thought. I tried to talk to him again today but he refused to see me.

"What?!" exclaimed Shinji. He knew that Akagi was sometimes stubborn but this is a little too extreme.

"He only said this: 'Sacrifices are necessary in the evolution of the world. We can use the power of the crystal to solve many unsolved mysteries in the world. Kill that girl if we must.' I'm not sure whether the rest of the team approves or not, but I'm not going to allow this to happen," Reiji said.

"Shinji sighed. He had expected that. "Kill Hikari?" Shinji replied.

"I know somehow he's going to do that, little bro. I think it's not that simple. You know how his mind works. He'll do almost anything for a historical artifact, even if it crosses the line. My guess is that now he knows that Hikari-kun has the crystal, he'll do something to get her. It won't be an easy kind of method, kidnapping her or something. It's gonna be some complicated plan to get Hikari. You must really protect her when she's not at home," Reiji warned.

"Don't worry, I will," Shinji assured before hanging up. He turned around to go back to class when he saw Hikari standing a few feet from him. His eyes widened in shock. By any chance, did she… happen to overhear the conversation?

"Was that call about someone out to kill me? I really must die for you to achieve a breakthrough in the history of the past?" she asked softy, her tears threatening to fall again. Shinji took a step towards her but she stepped back. "Yes!! I mean, no!! I was talking to my brother. Why would I wanna do that?" he said but Hikari backed off further. Realizing he was being misunderstood, Shinji tried to get Hikari to listen.

"Don't come near me!!" she shouted. Shinji stopped in his tracks immediately. Hikari can be unpredictable when angry. "Liar!! You said that you didn't really want the crystal so I told you where it was! Now you want me to die so that you can finally get your hands on it!! I trusted you… And you trampled on it!!"

Shinji sighed. This was getting out of hand. Recalling what he said, it was no surprise that Hikari would think this way. "Hikari, listen, please," he asked but Hikari had already started to leave the corridor.

"I'm warning you, don't follow me," she warned and threw something shiny in his direction. She ran off, presumably back to where Haruka was. The shiny object clattered near his feet and he picked it up. It was the necklace he had given her for her birthday last year. The silver chain was still lukewarm, meaning that she had been clenching it for a while before throwing it. The pendant was a rhombus shaped metal with their names carved out at the back. With thoughts of Hikari still fresh on his mind, Shinji pocketed the necklace and went off to search for someone.

* * *

Kengo was with Satoshi and Haruka near Kengo's classroom. He could not hear their conversation but judging by Kengo's face, it probably had something to do with either Akada or Hikari. He approached the group casually and asked to speak to Kengo in private. Satoshi and Haruka nodded and left.

"See you later Shinji," Satoshi said and left with Haruka.

"You wanted to talk to me for what?" asked Kengo. Shinji pulled out the necklace from his pocket.

"Kongobara, can you help me return this to Berlitz? I found it on the way here," he asked as nonchalantly as possible. Kengo raised an eyebrow. "Can you return it her yourself?" he asked. "Just do it," Shinji said firmly and almost threw the piece of jewelry at him and walked off. Luckily Kengo caught it. "Jeez, what's your problem…?" he asked himself and he turned the pendant over. Seeing the engraved bit of the pendant shocked him. He quickly caught up with Shinji who was walking down the stairs.

"Ikari!! Wait up!!" Kengo called. Shinji looked up, a smirk playing on his lips. "Well well, I left you at the end of the corridor less than a minute ago and here you are at the other end within this time. I guess Akada had a big influence over you who was not very well known for speed."

Kengo ignored Shinji as Shinji has always found a way to tick people off. Besides, being around Shinji for more than a year made Kengo immune to his usual sarcastic remarks. It was habitual.

"I didn't come here to show you what Nozomi did. I wanna ask you about the necklace you wanted me to return to Hikari," Kengo said. "How long had this been going on? Why did you guys act like nothing happened on the outside?"

"You want answers? What can you do for me?" Shinji asked. Kengo held up the necklace. "I can always choose not to return this to Hikari," he replied. "Besides, either way, you owe me a favour if I were to return this. Deal or no deal?"

Shinji's face was blank, it was hard to tell whether he accepted the trade. "Meet me at the western corner of the science block. Where they pile snow from the concrete paths," he replied and continued walking down the stairs.

* * *

A/N: Here we have a small press conference with some of the cast of this story. Firstly we have the protoganist herself, Berlitz Hikari!!

**Hikari**: aw shucks, kawaii serebii, you exaggerated the whole thing.  
**Me:** I did not. Do you wanna get punished for questioning the writer's intentions? No? Then do as I say. Now, here's the question: so far, what was your most embarrassing moment?  
**Hikari:** erm.. when you said that Shinji and I had to talk to a TV. It was a recorded video and it was so hard trying to keep up with the timing. I remember that once I spoke too slow and my voice and the recording actually clashed and it seemed like we were trying to outtalk each other. I wanted to argue with the TV and Kengo and Nozomi was laughing so hard in the background. Then I remembered it was a TV recording and I kept quiet until you said cut.  
**Me:** ah yes… the TV scene, brings back memories… Thank you Hikari. Next we have Akada Nozomi!!

**Nozomi:** isn't this a little too overboard with this so-called 'press-conference'?  
**Me:** nonsense Akada! Punishment!!  
**Nozomi:** (is hit on the head with a large paper fan) Ok, shoot.  
**Me:** how does it fell like to be acting out an illusion of a dead girl?  
**Nozomi:** how does it feel like? I'm just acting myself, just that I'm not really human… And I wanted to ask you how can an illusion eat real food?  
**Me: **talking back to the writer!! Double punishment!!  
**Nozomi is hit twice by a cushie mallet  
Me:** Ok, thank you Nozomi. Lastly, we have Reiji!!

**Reiji:** (sees Nozomi's plight) I'm… honoured.  
**Me:** Thank you Reiji. Alright, here's your question: what really happened when the rock fell on your head during the last ruin outing.  
**Reiji: **can we not bring that up? I'm accident-prone, that's all.  
**Me: **accident-prone my foot. You showed such gentle care to Hikozaru, Erebuu and Pikachu and the rest of your Pokemon at home and you say it's an accident??  
**Reiji:** (sigh) this is getting ridiculous. Didn't you say that it was an AU fic in the first place? And you even threw in 'Heatran' heaters and Rotom TVs. What else can you not do?  
**Me:** QUESTIONING THE WRITER'S MOTIVES!! PUNISHMENT!!  
**The floor under Reiji's chair suddenly gives way.  
Me:** That's all for today. Look forward to the next chapters for the rest of the people.

**Shinji:** somehow I had a sudden allergy to that stage.  
**Me:** Ikari, you got something to say? Wait 'til your turn buddy!!  
**Shinji:** (to the rest of the people who had not gone on stage) Did she just call me 'buddy'?

You know what to do.


	8. Answers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or the character or else the press conference will become REAL!!**

Yes! Prophecy Girl is nearing its end!! I mean, the ending chapter is near. If I can get it up and done in time, that is...

* * *

**Chapter 8: Answers**

In a building on a corner of Shinou City, Reiji hesitated whether to go in or not. After all, he felt responsible for telling Akagi about the crystal's whereabouts in the first place. And Akagi actually felt no mercy to Hikari who helped translate Unown on more than one occasion. Deciding to go in, Reiji pushed open the building door. A couple of door guards stood at either end of the large door that leads to Akagi main office area.

"I'm Reiji, ID 7345. I want to see Akagi," he announced to the guards. Deep down, he felt that his uncle was overly cautious in the security factor. Like, why would they need IDs and identify themselves with a _computer_ before they were allowed access into the archives and other places only accessible to the archaeology team? One of the guards had used a handheld device and identified Reiji before letting him pass. A few of the team members were there and asked him whether he really knew where the crystal was.

"I'm just here to see Akagi oji-san," was his quick reply to get away from them. He stopped outside Akagi's door and knocked, waiting for the occupant to give approval for entering.

"I don't want to see you Reiji. Go home," came Akagi's voice from inside the room. "But, do we really have to kill her for it? She was your translator for some of the phrases you weren't able to read," Reiji said with a hint of anger in his voice. The door opened and Akagi stood by the door, blocking the room from Reiji's view. "Go home Reiji. I'm having an important meeting with a client," said Akagi. Realizing it was pointless to argue as he could make out a silhouette from the frosted glass of the door, Reiji left.

Akagi made sure Reiji was really gone before he shut the door. "That's some nephew you got there, Akagi. Really insists that you don't kill that girl," said the person sitting o the sofa. Akagi went back to his seat behind his desk.

"Sacrifices are necessary in the evolution of the world. Relations he and Shinji have for the girl are useless human emotions. She's only a protector for the crystal," replied Akagi. "But I really must thank you for coming today. It was some challenge trying to get your services."

The slim built, blue haired man smiled slightly. "Must you really talk this way? Do remember I was once part of your team digging for relics," he said.

"But you went back to your assassinating job soon after, Saturn," Akagi said. "Does murdering people thrill you so much? Or was it the challenge of the job?"

The man called Saturn looked up. "I ditched my current offer for you, Akagi. As an old friend who wants my services over a stranger, of course I'll take your offer. So what do you want?"

Akagi smiled a smile that could frighten kids. "It's not such as straightforward as your other clients' plans, Saturn. This time round, I want you to kill someone who is not an intended target."

"Sorry, what?" asked Saturn.

"I have inside information that Shinji cares for the girl deeply. By pretending to target Shinji, the girl will try all ways to prevent that. So your mission is to kill the girl without injuring Shinji," Akagi explained.

Saturn nodded. "I see I see. I get what you mean, but how on earth am I supposed to kill the girl if Shinji was a fake target? Nobody knows about that right?"

Akagi smiled. "That's where I come in. I'll cook up a realistic story about how the Zui ruins sparked the anger of some people who wanted the Zui ruins to be left alone. These people are targeting people of the archaeology team. I'll try to hide the rest of the team, but given Shinji's character, he'll definitely go to school, seeing how Reiji must have told him that I want to get the girl no matter what. By then, the whole school should have already known Shinji's in danger. Make yourself visible to the girl, and make sure they are together before you start aiming. Don't want to give the impression that you are killing the wrong person in the public's eyes do you?"

"Got it boss," Saturn said before picking up his bag which he had carelessly tossed onto the table when he arrived. "Don't forget to tell me when I should start loading up on ammo," he reminded Akagi before leaving.

* * *

Kengo trekked slowly to the science block, swinging Hikari's necklace from his fingers. It had definitely been a shock to suddenly find out that Shinji and Hikari had been on good terms instead of usually fighting like what he saw every day. _Correction Kengo, not just good terms. Very good terms. Isn't the necklace pendant proof enough? It was obviously customized_, Kengo told himself mentally. Finally he reached the science block. It was somewhat deserted as it was only used during exam finals or national science exams. _Fantastic, where's west?_ He thought as he looked left and right for Shinji. _I give up. Without a compass, I'm hopeless_, he sighed internally as he gazed at the building again. The sun was behind the science block so getting snow-blinded was not much of a problem here. It was nearly three in the afternoon. _Wait, the sun? That's it. Nozomi said that we can use the sun if we had directional problems. Let's see. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Ikari must be behind the block_, he thought happily to himself before his face fell. _Nozomi, where are you?_ He asked as he made his way through the block. Shinji was standing in the corridor that went straight through the building, facing away from the sun.

"About time you showed up, Kongobara," he said. "Sorry, I'm a direction idiot. I'm hopeless without a compass," Kengo apologized.

"So what you wanna know?" asked Shinji. "Get to the point, don't beat around the bush."

"How long have you and Hikari been together? Why did you hide it from us?" asked Kengo.

"Since 5 years ago. I got to know her during that virus outbreak some years back," Shinji replied. "Say, have you heard of the latest club that's forming in the school?"

Kengo nodded. "I know. The 'Ikari' fanclub or whatever they called it. Those girl members, are you afraid of them?"

"Not really, I'm the club's main source of amusement. It's Hikari I'm worried about. They might harass her or something. When school re-opened after the outbreak, you, Satoshi and Aoishi were still sick. Akada's been carted off to Yosuka where it was temporarily safe. You didn't see what happened then. So it's pointless for me to even tell you," Shinji explained.

"Well, Ikari, this ex-sick patient wants to know," Kengo said firmly.

Shinji shrugged. "Then don't ask me to repeat myself if you don't get it. Somehow Hikari didn't catch the virus. Neither did I. So we were among the few people who turned up in the first week of school. Because none of you were around, you didn't see how depressed she really was. I kinda felt sorry for her so I talked to her. Then I found out that she isn't who she portrays on the outside. Hikari isn't as cheerful as she shows; she was lonely on the inside. Somehow I let slip that I was at Nanajima during the outbreak and she started asking about Tanoby ruins. She was just as interested in olden relics as I was so… yeah, the rest of history. But apparently the current president of the fanclub saw us together before you guys got back and started to ambush Hikari everywhere, just to threaten her to stay away from me without a valid reason. It wasn't until I found out and confronted that girl and told her to leave Hikari alone. I also asked Hikari to act like we were casual friends on the outside if anything else were to happen."

"By 'anything else', do you mean to develop your friendship into a relationship?" Kengo asked smugly. "I didn't say that," Shinji replied angrily but it was obvious, even though the sun was shining on him, Shinji's face was slightly flushed.

"Oh my. Mr. I'm-Your-Untypical-Popular-Guy is afraid to admit that he has a **GIRLFRIEND**," Kengo teased in a mock awe voice while putting emphasis on the word 'girlfriend'. He found his mouth clamped by Shinji's hand. "Quiet!! The fanclub's base is here!!" Shinji hissed. "You want the whole world to know? Be my guest, but don't blame me for the consequences." Kengo pushed Shinji's hand away.

"Then why call me here in the first place?" Kengo asked.

"I want the president to know that I'm a homo," Shinji replied while hiding a smirk from Kengo's eyes.

"WHAT?! YOU'RE GAY?!" the words exploded out from Kengo like a bomb. Shinji nearly wanted to hit himself out cold for a week. Kengo was really like Hikari in some ways. Being gullible was one of them. But he did not have the heart to tell Kengo that Akada Nozomi never existed.

"Of course not, Kongobara. You think I went out with Hikari _for fun_?" Shinji asked incredulously. "It's just an impression I want to give the fanclub. Hopefully they get the message. Come on, let's get out of here. It's still minus eight out there and it's snowing. I don't wanna get stuck in school because of a snowstorm with you, of all people available. Besides, at the volume you were shouting at just now, no doubt someone from the fanclub will come down and investigate."

Muttering something about murdering him right there and then, Kengo followed Shinji out of the block.

* * *

A/N: Ok, end of chapter 8 and time for Press Conference TWO!!

**Me:** welcome back to another episode of Press Conference. Today we have Kengo who portrays as Kongobara Kengo in the story.  
**Kengo:** er, thanks, serebii-san.  
**Me:** Ok Kengo, here's your question: how did you manage to act so sad after the last chapter? Do you happen to like Nozomi-san to do that?  
**Nozomi:** serebii-san, that's too personal a question!  
**Me: **Akada Nozomi!! Talking to the writer during broadcasting!! Assistant!!  
**(a random assistant appears and carts Nozomi away)  
Kengo:** …  
**Me: **well Kengo? Don't worry; Nozomi will be out in a while.  
**Kengo: **… er…well, actually… I do like Nozomi-san. As a friend if you're thinking along the wrong lines. And...  
**Me:** I get it. Thank you Kengo. Let's see who's up next… Let's spin the wheel to determine the next person. **(spins a roulette) **And the honour goes to… SATOSHI!!

**Satoshi:** ano… I don't know what to say…  
**Me: **It's ok; you don't have to say anything.  
**Satoshi: (to the audience)** … help…  
**Me:** ok, now we have Satoshi up here and -  
**Satoshi: **erm, what happened to the 'Masara' part after my name?  
**Me: **Your last name is Masara?  
**Satoshi:** No, Masara is the name of my hometown but -  
**Me: **Then it's fine coz your last name is definitely not Masara. At least not in the English dub. So here's your question: how do you feel having to be around Haruka all the time?  
**Satoshi: **it's great coz Haruka and I don't have a lot of scenes.  
**Me:** are you SURE it's just the lack of spotlight?  
**Satoshi:** Yes.  
**Me:** O-k... I don't seem to have anything else to ask so thanks Satoshi. **(Satoshi scuttles off) **End. Stay tuned. Bye byeeee

**Shinji:** Thank goodness I'm not on today's show.  
**Me: (comes back)** Oh, and Shinji? You're the first to go up in the next show. We may pull in someone else as a double conference.  
**Shinji: (dies) **

I kinda lost my supply of crack, so if it's not as good as the first one, I'm sorry. If anybody has crack, please infect me with it. Thank you! Please R&R.


	9. Target, Aim

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon and where is the goddamn 'Cut&Paste' button!!

Chapter 9 right at ya! I was on crack all day because a friend of mine likes to post crack on forums and, yeah, I got the virus. And this is going to be the semi-final arc. There's still the ultimate showdown and the epilogue, so don't be too happy yet.

Oh yeah, and other characters in here:  
Shuu - Drew  
Kouki - Lucas (game)  
Kouhei - Conway (the Tag Battle Tournament partner for Hikari)  
Saturn (come ON, the blue haired guy from Team Galactic)

* * *

**Chapter 9: Target, Aim…**

For Hikari, yesterday and today had been a blur. It was as if her body was working on instinct. She was not even aware of her actions until Kawaii bit her finger. "Ow! Kawaii!!" she scolded the furry rodent. The hamster strutted happily back to its cage where it fell asleep quickly. Hikari looked down at the container she was holding. _No wonder Kawaii bit me. I was trying to fill MILK into its water bottle_, thought Hikari as she brought it to her bathroom and filled it with fresh water.

"Hikari," Ayako called from the stairs. Hearing her mother's voice jolted Hikari back to reality. "You're going to be late. Kengo just left. He said he'll see you in school. And he left something behind, I placed it on the shoe storage box. Collect it later ok? I got to go to work now. See you," Ayako continued to say before closing the door. Hikari sighed and got up. _Might as well go to school_, she thought as she changed into her school uniform. When she put on her shoes she noticed something shiny on the shoe storage box. _Must be that thing Kengo dropped off earlier_, she thought and she picked it up. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was the exact same necklace she threw at Shinji yesterday. _Damn that Kengo. He must have picked it up. Oh wait, doesn't that mean he saw my name at the back of the pendant?? I'm so dead!!_ She shouted mentally as she ran out of her house.

* * *

Whispers echoed throughout the hall when she got to school.

"Wait, doesn't that mean he won't be in school anymore?"

"If the hired assassin turns up here, what if he went mad and kills all of us?"

"It's their problem. History makes fun of people I guess…"

Hikari found Satoshi, Haruka and Kengo in a corner in a serious discussion. "What's up guys?" she asked. The three of them stared at her. "What?" she asked.

"Don't you watch the news at all Hikari?" asked Satoshi. Hikari shook her head. News were boring to her. She only caught brief glimpses of the news when her mother turned on the TV in the morning.

"They say that the archaeology team's last outing to the Zui ruins sparked off the anger of the locals who felt that it should be left alone. Now they managed to hire some people to target the archeologists and _kill them_," Kengo told Hikari. Her heart felt like it plummeted from a cliff more than twenty metres above sea level. Shinji was part of the team that went to the Zui ruins too.

"Ikari, where is he?" she demanded. Haruka shrugged. "No idea," she replied, "But I saw him this morning. Kengo said that you were going to be late so we didn't wait by the gate. My guess is, he went directly to class."

Hikari will strangle Shinji SO bad for risking his damn life by coming to school. _Wait, but didn't you tell him not to talk to you anymore?_ A little inner voice in her said. _Shut up, inner voice. This is personal_, Hikari told the inner voice fiercely while running to Shinji's classroom. It was snowing slightly this morning so not that many people were in school. His classroom was at the very end of the corridor. She stopped just before the front door. _Maybe it's not such a good idea after all_, she thought as she retreated back to her own classroom downstairs. She bumped into Kengo who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Eh, Hikari, aren't you going to look for Ikari?" he asked. Hikari shook her head and literally flew down the stairs. _Honestly, what is their problem exactly?_ Thought Kengo as he went to find Shinji. _There isn't any fanclub members around, not that I know any of them. And seriously, when is winter going to end? It's nearly April!!_ He saw the only occupant in the classroom looking out of the window, seemingly deep in thought.

* * *

"Oi, Ikari," Kengo said, looking annoyed. "You called me here for?" Shinji turned around.

"Oh, Kongobara. Finally," he said. "You know that history test Nozomi and Hikari had not too long ago?" Kengo nodded. "What about it?" he asked.

Shinji sighed. "Things are much more complicated than you imagine. But I want you to believe me."

"Ok," Kengo replied. "So spill."

* * *

Saturn sat on the school rooftop, using his binoculars to filter out Akagi's target.

"The one with blue hair, is that her?" he asked into a microphone attached to his ear.

"That's the one. According to my underground information, she frequently goes to the almost deserted science block with Shinji or to the southwestern corner of the main building with her friends," said Akagi. Saturn put down the binoculars.

"Strange, boss. Even though there aren't many people in the area, she's still not with Ikari alone," Saturn said. He could see Shinji from his position. "So how am I going to reveal myself to her? Just stroll by her and say, 'I'll kill that boy of yours'?" he asked Akagi.

"Don't get sarcastic with me, Saturn. Like I said, she goes to the science block often. Just let her get a glimpse of you and do what you must," Akagi said before the speaker went dead. Saturn plucked out the headset. "Then I might as well do it my way," he said to himself as he picked up his bag of weapons and left the rooftop.

* * *

The science block was always a relief to Hikari whenever she was stressed. The deserted corridors were quiet and nobody was around here unless it was the exam period or some class had a science practical. _Ok, that was final. I'm not going to look for Shinji anymore. It was back to 8 years ago when he was still absent from my life_, she thought. The little inner voice was back again. _Dream on Berlitz. You know that deep down inside you still care about him. Did you get a good look at yourself in the mirror when you heard that someone is out for Shinji's life?_ It nagged on. Hikari sighed mentally. It was a debate all over again with that STUPID INNER VOICE. _Ok, maybe I still do, but don't forget that Shinji can hate me for life. Not to mention he has done that that loads of times already_, she thought. A shadow suddenly appeared in the corridor.

"Oh dear, I seem to have gotten lost," said the man. Hikari stared. Not that he looked out of place, it was that the way he draped the bag over his shoulder and the way he walked. Like the way a sniper would sling his rifle over his shoulder and look for a place to start searching for victims. _The telltale signs of a long distance killer_, she noted. He noticed Hikari and walked over to her.

"Sorry young lady. But can you tell me the way to the main assembly hall? I'm here for someone," he asked. Hikari gulped slightly. He seemed harmless enough, with that hair in a similar colour of hers in a weird hairstyle. _Hey, he said he was here FOR someone, not LOOKING for someone. This may very well be the person after Shinji_, she thought to herself.

"The main assembly hall? Oh, you're definitely in the wrong place. This is the science block. The main assembly hall is the building on the left from the main entrance. You can't miss it," she replied casually. _Unless you didn't come in by the main entrance_, she added internally.

"Well thanks a lot," he said, looking relieved. "By any chance do you know a person by the name of Shinji?"

Hikari froze. This is DEFINITELY the hired guy after the archaeologists. "Eh, I don't think you're being specific. There're three people named Shinji in the school," she replied.

Saturn looked surprised. "There're three people named Shinji? Oh no, I'm looking for the Shinji whose last name is Ikari," he said. Hikari shook her head. "Oh, no, sorry. You're asking the wrong person here. Ikari's famous in school for being a loner and being aloof," she replied.

"Alright then. Thanks," he said and left. Hikari let out a sigh of relief. That was one dangerous character on school grounds. And he was after Shinji. _ARGH!! I'm dying of confusion. Should I warn Shinji or not? He'll probably think I'm joking, or finding some way to get back together again_, she thought as she followed the man to the assemble hall. And the inner voice just HAD to choose that time to come back. _You know, once and for all, MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!_ The inner voice shouted. _You want to stay away from him but warn him of a dangerous character who might put a bullet through him anytime? That's equivalent to Mission Impossible._ Hikari swore at the inner voice. Noticing that the strange man moved rather quickly, she picked up her pace.

Saturn was aware that Hikari had followed him all the way from the science block. He put the headset back on his ear.

"Akagi, seems like she isn't as dumb as she seems to be. She's really intelligent," he said as quietly as possible.

On the other side, Akagi smiled to himself. "Yes, I know Saturn," he replied. "Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?"

"Sure. Especially if it involved some really emotional consequences later. Should I sing the song of harmony then?" Saturn said sarcastically as he strolled into the empty hall. He turned slightly to look behind him. "And she's still there. Gotta set up my equipment. Catch you later after the show Akagi."

After some inspection, Saturn decided to perch on the top of the stage while waiting. _Hurry Berlitz, I'm waiting_, he thought to himself in a sing-song voice.

* * *

Hikari watched from her position where he was going. It was bitterly cold where she was and her jacket was in her bag, carelessly tossed into her shoe locker. _Ok, whatever he's going to do, he has to wait until the end of break where everybody will assemble there. Might as well survive the lessons until then_, she thought as she turned around to go back; only to be faced by none other than Haruka.

"What are you doing here Hikari?" she asked. Hikari glanced left and right for signs of Satoshi. _Looks like Haruka came alone_, she thought. "Chilling out in this weather," she replied jokingly. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, I'm here to get my mind off something," Hikari replied. Haruka nodded. "Off what? Happy-go-lucky Berlitz Hikari has a problem she cannot solve with her 'No problem' motto," said Haruka.

"Maybe… Ne, Haruka. Can I ask you something?" Hikari asked. Haruka's eyes sparked interest. "Oh wow, you're finally using me as a counselor," she replied. Hikari crossed her arms. "Ok ok, I'll listen," replied Haruka still smiling.

"I have this friend who is really close to me - " Hikari started but Haruka interrupted her. "Who, Nozomi?"

Hikari's patiene waned slightly. "Haruka...! Listen!" she whined. Haruka half raised her hands in surrender, her blue eyes laughing. "Alright, I'll listen."

"You don't know her Haruka. Well, she likes this guy and the guy likes her back but they fell apart because of personal reasons. But they still care for each other but they don't know how to approach the other party," Hikari said. She hoped Haruka would buy the story. She could not possibly tell Gossip Queen Number 5 about her and Shinji. It will be all over the school by next week. Besides, she was not even sure whether Shinji still cared. Haruka listened and was thinking hard.

"Well, your friend has a complicated problem. But if they still care about each other, it shouldn't be much of a problem," she replied. "Trust me Hikari. Been there, done that."

Hikari was shocked. "Been there done that? Haruka, you don't seem like you have problems with Satoshi," she commented.

Haruka shook her head. "No, it's not Satoshi," she replied. "See, I have another good friend back in Hoenn. His name was Shuu. He lived in Toukashi before moving to LaRousse City. Anyway, we were really good friends. We were close like your friend, but one day we were playing Truth and Dare, I chose Truth and had to spill a secret. I can't tell you what it was. I made him swear not to tell anyone. But still it was all over the school by the end of the week. And he was the only one who could have known. He kept denying it though. Satoshi was the only one who didn't believe it. He was in Toukashi because his mother was there for this big gourmet competition and he had to go to the school there temporarily. In the end, I told Shuu that we are 'game over'. It wasn't until Satoshi said that a friend of Shuu had dared him a week ago to get a secret of mine."

Hikari felt the world suddenly got bigger. Haruka's problem seemed worse than hers. "It's ok though Hikari," Haruka told her. "Shuu and I are friends again, thanks to Satoshi. It was him who said that I shouldn't blame Shuu for what wasn't his fault."

The bell rang twice. Both girls nearly jumped. "Double ringing!! Hikari, see you later," Haruka said hurriedly before running off. _Yeah, see you later… If I had a 'later' to use_, Hikari thought as she made her way back to the classroom as well.

The teacher looked up just as Haruka flew into the classroom. "You're lucky Aoishi. Just another five more seconds and you would be deemed as late," the teacher said sternly. "Gomen sensei," Haruka apologized before going to her seat.

"Where did you go?" Satoshi asked in a whisper after Haruka sat down.

"With Hikari. She said she wanted to get her mind of something," she whispered back. Shinji heard all of the conversation. He briefly wondered what was the problem Hikari had.

* * *

Hikari nearly skidded on the icy floor in her haste to get to her class. To her relief, her teacher for that lesson was on medical leave. She took her seat by the window and looked out. The ground was a foot high with snow. Walking anywhere in that snow could be a problem.

"Hikari?" someone called her. Hikari nearly jumped, she was totally lost in her own world that the real world seemed like a dream. She faced the person calling her. "Hoshiko, how many times must I say, don't scare me," Hikari replied. The girl addressed blinked a couple of times. "I didn't scare you, you were daydreaming," she said. Taking a seat beside Hikari, she continued to talk. "So tell me, what're you thinking about?"

Hikari sighed mentally. Hoshiko was hard to persuade. A few white lies couldn't hurt… right? "Well, you see, I just ran into Haruka a while ago and she said that there're people around who are killing off the archaeologists. I'm worried for Ikari," she replied after deciding not to lie to anyone. Hoshiko's mind started turning in the wrong direction. "I see, so you like Ikari more than just a friend?" she asked cheekily. Hikari felt her face flush pink.

"Of course not, we're just friends," she denied. Hoshiko laughed softly. "Who doesn't? But really Hikari, you're so pretty, it's hard not to wonder why you haven't gotten yourself a boyfriend yet. Some of us thought that maybe you and Ikari are already going out but the way you guys behave made us drop the idea." _You don't know how accurate you guys were_, Hikari said mentally. This was getting boring. Hoshiko had all the news regarding the school's student body. Listening to her recite everything could take an hour or so. It was Nozomi who usually bailed her out. "You know, you should consider Kouki from the next class or that bookworm Kouhei from the library club. They seems to be interested in you," Hoshiko continued to chatter while Hikari paid less than ten percent of her attention to her. "And also the IFC are on the lookout for this person who may be out for Ikari's blood."

Hikari wanted to mock faint. This IFC thing was getting more and more ridiculous. Then she thought of Reiji. "Ikari's older brother, Reiji, is he ok?" she asked. Hoshiko went silent for a few moments. "Oh, Ikari Reiji. He's fine. From what I heard, Akagi got some of them to safety. Ikari Reiji was among those that made it to the safe house. I can't say about the rest who didn't," Hoshiko replied. Hikari sighed, out of relief and frustration. It seemed to be hours before she was due at the main assembly hall.

* * *

The bell rang, a relief for the usually slacking Satoshi. "Oh yeah, finally the legal chance to get out of this brick box!" he said happily while stretching his arms. "Don't be too happy yet, Satoshi. You still have to go through these two worksheets by today," Haruka broke Satoshi's happy bubble gently. Shinji was gazing out of the window. He was one of those who did not want to go out of the class walls.

"Shinji. You coming?" Satoshi called Shinji from the door. "Kengo and Hikari are waiting already." Shinji's face showed no interest. "No thanks," he replied. "I'll go on my own." Satoshi shrugged. "Up to you. It's your choice Ikari," he said before leaving. Shinji made sure that they were really gone before he felt his head hit the hard surface of the table. He hated life for treating him like a joke.

* * *

Hikari paced back and forth, trying to get a good look up at the construction bars that supported the stage beams. That guy was still there, she was certain of it, but she could not _see_ him. And it was all because of Kengo. He insisted on selecting a table beside the stage instead of their usual hangout. Sometimes she wanted to tell Kengo everything since it was connected to Nozomi and all, but looking at his face, Hikari decided against it. He would never believe her. Or maybe hate her for life because she was the one who created that non-existent Nozomi.

"Hikari, I beg of you to please stop pacing around," Kengo said. "You're making my eyes go in circles." Hikari glared at him. "No one's asking you to follow my actions," she replied. Kengo sighed, "Pikari, just stop it."

Hikari's patience dropped to zero. "Don't. Call. Me. Pikari," she said softly and angrily. Kengo averted his eyes to another direction. "Whatever you say… Pikari," he said in a bored tone. Hikari was getting pumped up to give Kengo a good punch when she heard Haruka's voice saying, "Kengo, you know she doesn't like being called that."

Hikari turned around to face Satoshi and Haruka. "You two are here finally," she grumbled. Haruka's sapphire eyes sparkled happily. "Sorry Hikari, but we had something important to take care of first," she replied. Hikari slapped her head. She had a faint idea what they had done. "Oh yeah, Hikari," Satoshi called her, "Shinji's coming later. Then you can hit him for all of us for being the rock headed stubborn idiot by coming to school." Hikari gave an OK gesture before her stomach growled. "Man, I'm hungry…," she said. "I'll get some food first. Be right back." Hikari ran off in the direction of the stalls. Out of curiousity, she glanced back up at the stage beams. Although faint, she could make out the outline of a person crouching there. She walked backwards to make sure that the person was really there and turned around only to crash into someone.

"Watch where you're going Berlitz," came that annoyed voice. Hikari looked up to see Shinji. "What? I wasn't watching where I was going. What can you do about it?" she replied daringly. Shinji walked away while mumbling 'Whatever." Hikari watched him go angrily and turned her attention back to the stage. This time it was no optical illusion. The sunlight shone through a small window at the top and reflected off metal. _Metal!! A gun!! Dammit!!_ She thought as she searched for Shinji. In that short time lapse, a large number of people had gathered around the hall. Finally, she spotted him leaning against a pillar talking on his cell phone. _The place where he's standing is really dangerous. I gotta get him out of here. If worse comes to worst, then I'll have no choice. Please Shinji, do what I tell you to_, she said mentally as she made her way to him. She reached him as he finished his call.

"Ikari, can I talk to you?" she asked. The noise in the hall, however, drowned most of her words. Shinji looked at her in surprise. "What did you say?" he asked loudly.

"SHINJI!! CAN I TALK TO YOU?!" she shouted. Students who heard Hikari shouting went silent.

Saturn loaded a bullet into his rifle. "Good, stay there Berlitz," he said to himself as he took aim with his hand resting on the trigger.

* * *

A/N: Muaha, I am the most evil person to stop the story here, but hey, it's necessary. It's already 3000+ words. So, here's the latest episode of Talk Show. Today we have our hot badass Trainer, Shinji!!

**Shinji:** …  
**Me:** So today's just Shinji. That's great.  
**Shinji: **…  
**Me:** Ok, Shinji, here's your question. Are you really gay?  
**(audience starts laughing hard)  
Shinji:** WHAT?! Of course not. It's those fangirls that create all the gay shippings.  
**Me:** actually, being a ComaShipper isn't such a bad idea after all…  
**Shinji:** you actually listening to me, idiot?!  
**Satoshi:** … bad move Shinji…  
**Me:** I'm not listening. Ok, next question. Let's see... How do you feel to be cast into the spotlight?  
**(audience: oooOOOooo…)  
Shinji: **Do you really want me to say it?  
**Me: (smiling)** yes. Come on, I don't have a lot of time.  
**Shinji:** … stupid writer… It feels weird when you were a side character in the series and is sudenly thrown into the main cast. But I think it has something to do with aniki  
**Reiji: (innocently)** Why would I do that?  
**Me:** Too bad the IkariShippers in SPPF have a penchant for thinking up crazy things XDDD Ok, thanks, Shinji. I'll most likely bring you back.  
**Shinji:** I sure hope not.  
**Me:** hang on a second. Here, this is for you. **(hands Shinji a box)  
Shinji: (takes box) **What's inside?  
**Me:** nothing, just a box.  
**Shinji: (opens the box and is greeted by a packet of white powder which is not sealed properly in the box.)  
Me:** I would be careful if I were you. That box contains a highly sought after drug  
**Shinji: (throws the box to a random person in the audience)**

THANK YOU! You know that little button is dying for you to hit it!


	10. Final

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokemon or the characters. Maaaaaaaaaan, I wish I did…

YES!! THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!! AND THE LAST CHAPTER not including epilogue, if I ever had the interest to do it.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Final**

Shinji was speechless. Hikari shouted his name right in front of everyone. The one that started with 'S'. If that was not bad enough, heads started to turn in their direction. He could die on the spot.

"Berlitz…," he warned softly under his breath. Hikari was still glaring at him. The crowd around them had thickened its density of people. In the past, Shinji could say that he did not believe the school had a least four thousand people. Now looking at the sheer number of people surrounding them, he could say that he believed the person now.

"Shinji, hello?" Hikari waved a hand in front of him. He swatted it away like an irritating fly. "What?" he asked.

Hikari briefly looked left and right. Quite a crowd had gathered. _Perfect_, she thought. "Can we go somewhere private?" she asked. Shinji glared at her.

"No," he answered. "Whatever you want to say, this place would be fine."

* * *

Saturn frowned as he lowered the rifle. That girl had played her cards well. With that number of people surrounding them, it would be hard to get a good shot. On the bright side, more people would be able to witness his prowess first hand.

"Come on Berlitz. Move," he muttered as he picked up his rifle once more.

* * *

Hikari gave one last glance back to the stage. Shinji had refused to budge. Now she was in a difficult position. The number of people surrounding them was a risk she took. She had protected him from that person, along with those lined up behind her. Subconsciously, she fiddled with the necklace she stuffed into her pocket. The necklace gave her an idea.

"Look, remember this?" she asked as she took it out and dangled in front of his face. Shinji's face was unreadable, as always, but his eyes held the shock he endured. She half hoped that he would move at least.

"Hey, what's going on here?" asked a familiar male voice. Satoshi had managed to worm his way into the center. Haruka and Kengo had somehow squeezed in as well. One look at the crowd's attention told Kengo everything.

"Nothing to see here, people. Move along," he said as he shooed the onlookers away. Some had begun moving, obviously disgruntled at the lack of authority to be able to view what would be a good show. The rest stayed on longer and left soon. "Hikari, need some time alone?" asked Kengo. Hikari nodded slightly. "Arigatou," she said softly.

* * *

When the crowd started moving, Saturn rejoiced. But the problem was those three newcomers. They were blocking her. Through the magnified lens, he saw her nod slightly and the three of them started to walk away as well. It was now or never.

"Sayonara Berlitz," he said to himself as he pulled the trigger.

* * *

Shinji was greatly relieved when Kengo chased away the onlookers. On the bad side, he now owes Kengo big time. _Could be worse. Hikari, what on earth are you planning to do?_ He asked in his mind as he watched Satoshi, Haruka and Kengo walk off.

"What you wanna say, say it quickly before they start flocking back," Shinji hissed under his breath. Hikari smiled happily at him before saying her trademark motto, "subete wa daijoubu." His mind went blank. He wanted to ask her to repeat herself when he heard something. A short, sharp sound. _A gunshot!!_ He thought. The first thing that came to his mind was _Am I dead?_ After being sure that there were no injuries on him, he relaxed. He heard screaming and felt something fall on his body. Out of instinct, he held on to that object and realized that Hikari had collapsed on him. He felt something weird on his hand that supported her left side of her body. Something that felt sticky and wet. That meant one thing.

"Hikari!!" he exclaimed as he set her in a half lying, half sitting position as he continued to hold on to her. He could feel her blood flowing out quickly as it stained her snow white school blouse. Her eyes were shut as she tried to stay conscious.

"Shinji!!" he heard someone call him. Satoshi stopped dead on his tracks when he saw Hikari. Haruka silenced her scream as horror washed over her. "I'll call an ambulance," she said shakily and left quickly. Kengo was in the same state of shock as Satoshi was.

"Hikari, please, don't go yet," he begged as quietly as possible. He hoped Hikari could hear him though. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something strange. Some kind of dim light was flashing in Hikari's clenched right fist. Slowly, he pried open her hand. It was a little difficult as her blood had streamed down to her right arm. After some time, he got out the thing Hikari was holding. A rather large rock that flashed blue, gold and red shone under the light. It would be a pretty sight, if it did not have obvious bloodstains on it.

"Shin…ji?" Hikari whispered. Shinji switched his attention from the rock to Hikari. Her blue eyes were now open but they reflected the pain she was feeling at the moment. "Hang in there Hikari. Haruka called the ambulance," Shinji pleaded. Hikari looked down at the rock he was holding. "It's useless. By the time the ambulance arrives it'll be too late," she said with bitterness in her voice, although strained. Her eyes started to shut on its own accord but Shinji shook her awake. "Hikari, stay awake. Don't drift off to sleep," he said as he shook her awake. Hikari's breathing had started to become ragged and the colour drained from her face.

"Sorry… Shinji," were the last words she said to him. Her body went limp. He faintly heard the ambulance siren as his world suddenly blacked out as well.

* * *

When he woke up, he was in his room at home. Reiji was watching the television. "Oh, you're awake," Reiji said.

Shinji got up, his head pounded painfully. "Why am I at home?" he asked.

Reiji looked away. "Well, you fainted. And Satoshi called me to take you home. He said it may not be a good idea for you to continue staying in school," he replied while hiding his face in the shadows. Everything hit Shinji all at once, the main reason why he was back home. He fished out a semi-transparent red, gold and blue rock from a pocket. Dried blood was stuck on some parts. Other areas not covered by blood reflected the sun rays onto the wall, creating a beautiful rainbow light on the wall. Reiji was mesmerized by the rock.

"Is that…?" he asked but never got to finish his sentence as the door to Shinji's room opened noisily. Shinji stuffed the rock under his pillow as Akagi walked through the door. "Shinji, I heard what happened in school. You are not hurt are you?" he asked. Shinji shook his head. Akagi then glanced around the room.

"Well, where is it? She was holding on to the rock right? It should have materialized after the protector isn't around," said Akagi. Shinji looked away.

"It's gone. It materialized for a while, and then it vanished. I should gotten hold of it before it vanished," he lied. Akagi sighed. "Oh man, I really wanted that. It would be so awesome to be able to find out what it can do," he said. Shinji glanced at Akagi. This time there was no illusion. Akagi's face held a mixture of anger and disappointment. _He must have wanted that thing for a very valid reason. I highly doubt that it was for study. If it really was for study, he would've waited_, thought Shinji. _Either way, I'm safe-keeping it with me._

Akagi gazed at the setting sun through Shinji's window. "Well, do rest Shinji. See you soon," he said and left.

After making sure that Akagi was safely out of the house and out of the gate, both brothers were greatly relieved. "That was close, Shinji. You still have your senses to lie. No telling what he might use it for since he needs it badly," said Reiji. Shinji remained silent.

"I'll put it somewhere where he will never get it. Somewhere where security is high and known to the public," he finally said. He placed the rock on the side of the platform where his bed was.

"And where will that be?" Reiji asked, slightly amused that his younger brother would think of something. An evil glint appeared in the corner of Shinji's eye. "Wait and see," was Shinji's answer.

* * *

Shinji stood in front of a large brick building with glass doors, a sling bag over his shoulders. Reiji seemed shocked. "A MUSEUM?!" he asked. Shinji nodded, apparently proud of himself for thinking of such an awesome idea to place the crystal there. He pushed open one of the glass doors. The museum had just closed its operational hours, therefore nobody was inside.

"Hello?" Shinji called out to the empty hall. A man came out. He was obviously the curator. "You are Shinji I presume," he said. "I'm Fuyuki, curator of this museum. Did you bring it with you?" Shinji opened his bag and pulled out a drawstring pouch. Fuyuki took the pouch and the crystal fell out onto his hands.

"So this is the treasure that plagued the Yuki state. The legendary crystal that survived for six hundred years with no pinpointed location. This is something worth to display and for the public to know as well," Fuyuki said in awe as he studied the crystal. "I thank you Shinji. It is a very, very valuable contribution to the museum. I will make sure it is displayed at a prominent spot and have some cameras looking over it. I will credit you for your contribution as well."

"Thanks, that's all I need to know. Bye," replied Shinji as he turned around and left the museum. Reiji left with him. "Shinji, why did you give that museum?" he asked.

"I figured that Akagi wanted the crystal for his own gains. I won't let something that Hikari protected for so long be used for something that might change the world," Shinji replied. "I'll go home later." He turned left at a fork in the road while Reiji paused to look after his brother's retreating figure. _He's really down. Hikari affected him more than I thought_, he thought as he continued straight down the road.

* * *

Shinji walked down the road to the local cemetery. It was his first time here since he fainted in school. As he walked past the gates, he looked out for any familiar person who might be there as well. The weather was slightly foggy, which suited his mood. The ground's snow had melted overnight, a weather feat that no scientist had figured out yet. The grass withstood the chill and swayed in the wind. Finally, he reached his destination. A newly erected tomb where wild grass once grew on. He did not look at the name on the stone tablet; it pained his heart to know that she was no longer around. Also judging from the flowers left in front of the tomb, he knew that Satoshi, Haruka and Kengo had been there earlier. After all, Haruka was the only person aside from him who knew that Hikari liked forget-me-nots. He dug through the pocket of his jacket and found what he was looking for: Hikari's necklace. Reiji had placed the necklace on his computer table and claimed that Kengo had given it to him and was told to give it to the younger Ikari brother. Shinji set the necklace beside Haruka's bouquet of forget-me-nots.

"Sorry for coming only now Hikari. I put the crystal somewhere where nobody can get it anymore. So don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said while looking at the grass. A chilly wind blew as he got up and left for home. At the tomb, a faint shadow materialized in the fog and vanished.

* * *

A/N: Extra information. Yes, I have used a gun before. Well, not really a gun. Air rifle and air pistol. Either way, it's still a weapon although a friend had gotten hit by a ricocheting bullet and he had yet to start bleeding. Just to say that the trigger is really sensitive. I was aiming and I pressed the trigger gently to test whether it was loaded properly and it went off. Serious!! It was the only bullet that missed the target completely.

And now, I shall end this awesomely (not) alternate universe fic with a big 'THANK YOU' to all those who read it and fellow IkariShippers from SPPF who reviewed. Also special thanks to Suwamoto who encouraged me to upload to . There MAY be a small surprise after this, but that depends on my situation here.

Also a few notes, I know I'm lacking this particular section in some fics:

**Arigatou** – thank you  
**Sayonara** – Good bye. Usually used when you are not going to see someone forever or for a long time, or so I'm told…  
**Subete wa daijoubu** - Everything is alright (my friend told me this phrase. If it's wrong, I'll have a chance to kill him)


	11. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

Yep, coming right at you: the epilogue of Prophecy Girl. I'm more of a tragedy kind of person, so naturally Romeo and Juliet is one of my Top 20 books to read.

* * *

**Epilogue**

"Is it me, or is Shinji particularly moody and blue these days?" Satoshi asked Kengo. Kengo nodded, fully knowing the reason why. Clueless Satoshi who got himself a girlfriend was completely oblivious about Shinji and Hikari's acting.

This time, Satoshi's assumption was dead on the mark. The last few months had gone by in a blur for Shinji. He was not accustomed to not having Hikari scaring him from behind ever so often and seeing her usual happy self.

* * *

"I'm home," Shinji called out as he reached home. No answer. The exception was the dog outside and the daily maid who came to clean the house. _Aniki must have gone to the new dig site_, he thought as he closed the door to his room and dumped his bag unceremoniously on a nearby chair. The drawn curtains made the room look gloomy, which was exactly his mood right now. He lay down on his bed, trying to get some sleep. These few weeks, he had recurring nightmares, all of them portraying the same thing. It was replaying the scene when Hikari left. Except a bit worse. In his dreams, he kept seeing Hikari, badly wounded and demanding why he had not tried to save her earlier. He knew that Haruka was the one who called for help. He knew that Satoshi had shouted in the background that it was an emergency. He also knew that Kengo had tried to find the owner of the long distance firearm. Despite knowing all this, the nightmares continued. All of them showed him the same horror every night. Reiji gave him some sleeping pills before he left and was the one to wake him up whenever he started thrashing around.

"This is endless," he muttered to himself as he went down to the kitchen. The phone's sudden ringing scared him. The house was extremely quiet with the occasional dog barking outside for some reason. Shinji picked up the phone.

"Oh Shinji. You're back. I was worried you are still in school," Reiji said over the phone. "So are you still having nightmares at night?"

"Yeah, I'm damn sleepy. Do you still have any of those sleeping pills you gave me before you went away?" asked Shinji.

"I guess so. I'm not too sure either," replied the older brother. "Oh yes. If there are still any sleeping pills left, they should be still in the medicine box. Don't overdose. I got to go. See you." With that, Reiji hung up. Shinji looked at the phone, still lost in his thoughts. He put down the phone and walked to the medicine cupboard. He found a bottle of white pills. The label read "SLEEPING PILLS. Dosage for adult: 1 pill per day." He remembered Reiji's advice on overdosing. Taking the whole bottle upstairs, he swallowed one pill and left the rest on a nearby table and went to sleep.

The sleeping pill had worked, but only for a few hours. He had that nightmare again. Apparently the effect of the pill does not have an effect that lasted as long as he liked. It was dead in the night when he woke up in cold sweat, the nightmare's details still fresh on his mind. His body seemed to be more and more immune to the sleeping pills. It took him a shorter time with each intake to wake up. Picking up the bottle, he took out ten pills and decided to risk his life for a more peaceful sleep. The drowsiness this time was instantaneous. He fell back onto his bed and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Satoshi was rudely woken up by the ringing of the phone in his house. The entire building was quiet as his mother had gone to work. Winter subsided extremely quickly, bringing spring. Hanako worked in a floral shop and therefore had to be early to make sure the flowers were in their best condition. Also, today was the first day of the school holiday. If it was Haruka on the line, he would remind her that he does not need to be in school. With his mind still half asleep, he picked up the phone just outside his room.

"Hello…?" he asked.

"SATOSHI!! WAKE UP!! Something really serious has happened," Kengo shouted over the phone. After Satoshi's mind registered the information, his eyes lost its sleepiness.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It's Shinji," replied Kengo. "Reiji-san came back this morning and found that Shinji was still asleep. He wouldn't wake up. Reiji-san has tried all sorts of methods but Shinji stayed the same. He guessed that Shinji took more than the required dosage of sleeping pills. He's now in hospital. The doctors tried pumping out the stuff in his stomach but he remained unconscious. They said that he slipped into coma. But considering the time between when he took the pills and when Reiji brought him to the hospital, the doctor said that there might be a chance he might not wake up again."

All this time, Satoshi stayed silent. "But, Kengo, why?" Satoshi asked. "Shinji never has a reason for suicide. I mean, he's smarter than anyone in school, suffers from mild superiority complex and may be a loner but he has us. Something must have pushed Shinji to the edge."

He heard Kengo sigh on the other side. "I… think I know why though. Hmmm… I'll meet you somewhere and we'll go see Shinji. How's that?" Kengo proposed.

"Fine. Mind if I drag Haruka along?"

"Satoshi, I'm not asking you for a package. I just need to see you. I don't think it's alright to disturb Haruka this early in the morning."

"Alright, alright. I'll see you outside the hospital later." Satoshi put the phone down. Shinji in coma was a very disturbing thought. Besides, why would Shinji need sleeping pills? With troubling thoughts in mind, Satoshi quickly left his house.

* * *

Satoshi found it hard to believe that the unconscious person lying on the hospital bed was Shinji. It was so un-Shinji to ever be associated with hospital equipment. A heart monitor beeped once in a while to record his heartbeat and he was breathing through an oxygen mask.

"How did he end up like that?" Satoshi finally asked.

"In case you don't know, Shinji and Hikari have been seeing each other secretly over these 8 years. Hikari's sudden death must have a large toll on him," replied Kengo. He watched the heart monitor beep. He blinked again. Was it his eyes, or was there a pattern to the heart beat rate? He studied the next few recorded heart beats. There was no mistaking it. Shinji's heart beat rate was falling. He needed to inform the doctor fast.

"Satoshi, go get the doctor quick," commanded Kengo. Satoshi ran out of the door while Kengo continued to watch the monitor recordings.

"_Shinji…"_

Shinji heard someone calling him. He looked around. His surroundings were nothing but dark violet fog. That voice sounded very familiar. If only he could hear it one more time…

"_Shinji…"_

There it was again. Clearer, and louder. It sounded like…

"_Shinji."_

The voice came from behind him. He turned around. He came face-to-face with Hikari.

"_Shinji, why are you here?"_ asked Hikari.

Why was he here? He had no idea himself. By right, he should be awake at this time. Unless the pills were too effective.

"_You shouldn't be here."_

"Guess I overdosed on the sleeping pills," he said to no one in particular. He felt something pulling his arm. It was Hikari.

"_Come on Shinji, let's go,"_ said Hikari. For some strange reason, Shinji was compelled to go along. He allowed Hikari to lead him into the depths of the fog.

* * *

_7 years later…_

It was nearly dark when two people entered the local cemetery. A couple, a man and a woman, headed for the left hand side of the cemetery.

"It's been some time since we were here," said the woman. The man nodded.

"I know. Kengo doesn't want to come. Says he feels responsible for what happened to the both of them," he said. The woman placed a bouquet of forget-me-nots on an older tombstone.

"But the way I see it Satoshi, it's better for the both of them. They are together, wherever they are," said the woman.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Haruka. Shinji and Hikari won't want to see us like this," said Satoshi. He looked at the two tombstones that stood side by side. He remembered that day clearly. When Satoshi had gone for the doctor, Shinji's heart beat rate dropped steeply. The doctor tried to revive him but it was useless. The hard part was telling Reiji that Shinji had died.

"Don't feel sad Satoshi. I'm sure that both of them are happy, wherever they are in afterlife," said Haruka with a sad smile. She placed another bouquet of flowers on the other, newer tombstone. "Ok, let's go."

When they left, they did not notice a strange fog creeping up behind them. The fog surrounded the two tombstones that the visitors were previously at. Two faint shadows materialized within the fog.

"_I told you they will come. They always do,"_ whispered a girl's voice.

"_So you win. Happy?"_ a boy's voice asked softly.

"_It's all your fault. If you hadn't taken all those sleeping pills. Half the bottle!"_ the girl's voice echoed gently in the quiet cemetery.

"_Hey, if I had not done that, I will still be alive and suffering horribly because of nightmares. Also I wouldn't be with you,"_ the boy berated quietly. The girl laughed in a tone that resembled rustling leaves.

"_Ok, come on, let's go. We'll be back next year to check how they are faring,"_ the girl said. The fog vanished slowly, leaving the stars to watch over the cemetery.

* * *

End!! I'M DONE!! YES!! Don't forget to tell me how do you think about it ok? It's the second time I've killed a character, but the first time I killed both characters. So sue me for being a HUGE fan of tragedy. Do R&R, thank you


End file.
